Glass Q I JJ 

Book il 



DRY-FARMING 

IN AMERICA. 



BEING A REPORT PRESENTED TO 
THE TRANSVAAL GOVERNMENT 



BY 

WILLIAM MA CDONALD, 

M.S.Agr., Sc.D., Ph.D., F.K.S.E., 

Editor, Agricultural Journal, and Dry-Land Agronomist 
Foreign Vice-President of the American Dry-Farming 
Congress and Corresponding Secretary for 
South Africa. 



PRETORIA: 
The Government Printing and Stationery Office. 
T.G.39-'09. - 

5019— 12.8.'09— 3375. 1 tfW y . 




Theodore Roosevelt. 

President of the United States. 14th September, 1901 — 4th March, 1909. 



/ 




'U 

DRY-FARMING 

IN AMERICA. 



BEING A REPORT PRESENTED TO 
THE TRANSVAAL GOVERNMENT 



BY 

WILLIAM MA CDONALD, 

M.S.Agr., Sc.D., Ph.D., F.R.S.E., 

Editor, Agricultural Journal, and Dry-Land Agronomist \ 
Foreign Vice-President of the American Dry-Farming 
Congress and Corresponding Secretary for 
South Africa. 



PRETORIA: 
The Government Printing and Stationery Office. 



1 9 9. 



AUG 22 IM- 



PRINTED by the Government Printer, Pretoria. 
5019—12.8.09—3,375. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. 
To the Cheyenne Congress. 

Chapter II. 

To the National Department op Agreculture. 

Chapter III. 
To the Dry Farms of the West. 



APPENDIX. 



4$» 



Mid 32 >9Ki 



TRANSVAAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Office of Editor and 

Dry-Land Agronomist, Pretoria, 

12th October, 1909. 

To the Director of Agriculture. 

REPORT ON DRY-FARMING IN AMERICA. 

Sir, 

I have the honour to submit my report on Dry-farming in America 
for transmission to the Right Hon. the Minister of Agriculture. At the 
same time I should like to express my appreciation of the personal interest 
you have taken in the progress of this new movement, as well as for the 
opportunity afforded me by the Department of Agriculture of pursuing 
these investigations. My thanks are also due to my two colleagues, Mr. 
Joseph Burtt-Davy, F.L.S., and Mr. Barend Enslin, who so kindly took 
charge respectively of the Agricultural Journal and the Dry-land Experi- 
ment Station during my absence in the United States. 

I have the honour to be, 

Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

William Macdonald, 
Editor, Agricultural Journal, and Dry-land Agronomist. 



PREFACE. 



This report contains an account of a tour undertaken with the special 
object of finding out what progress had been made in Dry-farming in 
the United States, and whether it was likely to become an established 
practice. The conclusion drawn from these investigations will be found 
in the closing pages of the report. As there is still some uncertainty in the 
minds of many as to the real meaning of the term dry-farming, I have 
inserted a short paper dealing with this matter in the Appendix, together 
with an account of the methods adopted in the different States. Land 
settlement has also been briefly touched upon, because the successful 
cultivation of the dry-lands of South Africa must ultimately pave the way 
for a practical and comprehensive scheme of National Land Settlement for 
the whole of South Africa. Other matters of general agricultural interest, 
noted in this tour, will be discussed in subsequent numbers of the 
Agricultural Journal. 

The writer's hearty thanks are due to the Government and the people 
of the Transvaal for their sympathetic interest in this mission, which he 
trusts he has carried out to their satisfaction. He is also indebted to the 
Imperial Government for the honour conferred upon him in appointing 
him to represent the Colonial Office at the Trans-Missouri Dry-farming 
Congress ; and he earnestly hopes that the information gained may be of 
some practical value in the agricultural development and colonisation of 
other parts of the Empire. Nor must he fail to thank his many friends, 
both old and new, in the United States for their ready help and warm- 
hearted welcome. 

Department of Agriculture, 

Pretoria, 12th October, 1909. 



DRY-FARMING IN AMERICA. 



Chaptee I. 



TO THE CHEYENNE CONGRESS. 



I left Pretoria on the 11th of January, and two days later sailed by the 
Walmer Castle. The voyage was exceptionally calm and pleasant, and we 
arrived in Southampton on the 30th January. I spent two weeks in 
London and left Liverpool for New York on Saturday, 13th February, 
at 5 p.m., by the Mauretania. The second day at sea this wonderful 
vessel broke all previous Atlantic records, doing 671 knots or 773 land 
miles from noon of Sunday till noon on Monday, and so we passed the 
Ambrose Channel Lightship off New York on Thursday, the 18th, at 
9.55 p.m. — after having come through a terrific gale — in four days, 
seventeen hours, and six minutes, the fastest voyage* ever made. The 
Mauretania is a splendid triumph of British shipbuilding, because even at 
her great average speed of 25.55 knots per hour, or, in other words, one 
land mile every two minutes, it is hard to realise that you are at sea, so 
slight is the motion of the vessel. 

I arrived in New York City at 10 o'clock on the morning of the 19th 
and left the same afternoon at 3.45 by the Congressional Limited for 
Washington. This is the smoothest running train in America and one 
of the most rapid. It is run in two sections which follow one another at 
an interval of five minutes. Each consists of four Pullman cars. Thus 
instead of one long train, two are run on the same track, ensuring great 
speed and smoothness. The broad guage, viz., 4 feet 8^4 inches, has 
been adopted on this line. We arrived at Washington sharp on time, 
having traversed a distance of 225 miles. 

At 10 o'clock next morning I called at the Embassy and was most 
cordially received by the British Ambassador. We at once stepped into 
his motor car and drove to the Department of State where the Committee 
for the " Conservation of Natural Resources " was in session. Here I met 
the Hon. James Wilson, United States Secretary for Agriculture ; the 
Hon. Sydney Fisher, Minister of Agriculture for the Dominion of Canada ; 
and Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry. 

Through the courtesy of Mr. Bryce, at 12.30 p.m. of the same day I 
had the honour of being received by the President of the United States, 
Mr. Roosevelt, who welcomed me with the greatest cordiality, and asked 
me to present his hearty personal greeting of good-will to the Right Hon. 
the Prime Minister of the Transvaal, and to say how interested he was 
in South African affairs, and how heartily he wished all success to those 
who dwell in South Africa. The President also said that he was very 
much interested in the development of dry-farming, as he had much to 
do with irrigation and kindred matters in the semi-arid regions of the 



* This record has since been broken. 



10 



Western United States, and therefore felt a particular interest in these 
regions. He also fully realised the very great importance of such problems. 

Amongst ninety million people in the United States, Theodore 
Roosevelt for several years has been, and still is, the most commanding 
personality. To meet him is to understand how he both inspires and 
dominates his fellow-countrymen. His rugged vitality, boyish enthusiasm, 
and cheering grip have charmed and won the West ; while the East has long- 
since capitulated to the restless energy, tireless industry, and driving 
courage of Harvard's most gifted graduate. Morley has said of Gladstone 
that he was a Highlander in charge of a Lowlander. With equal truth 
one might say that Roosevelt was a Westerner in the care of an Easterner. 
During his tenure of office he proved a real and helpful friend of the 
farmer, and the various agricultural commissions which he called together 
on irrigation, natural resources, and country life have already had a 
profound effect on the welfare of the whole nation. 




Mr. Roosevelt always took very seriously this cartoon of 
the old farmer reading the President's Message. The original 
of it, framed, hung over the mantel in his private study. He 
considered this farmer with the firm mouth and the patched 
trousers to be a representative of the mass of the American 
people — stable-minded, plain, patriotic, and endowed with 
common sense. To one who urged him to accept a third term 
Roosevelt said : " This man wouldn't like it." To Lord 
Curzon, on a visit to the White House, frankly asking the 
source of the President's power, Roosevelt said: "That is 
the man I'm working for." — From Collier's Weekly, 6th 
March, 1909. 

No apology is therefore needed— even in a dry-farming report — to 
insert the vivid impression of the. greatest Dutchman in America from the 
pen of the brilliant English novelist Mrs. Humphry Ward* :— 

"Washington, at this time of the world's history, was the scene of 
one of those episodes — those brisker moments in the human comedy— 
which every now and then revive among us an almost forgotten belief in 
personality, an almost forgotten respect for the mysteries behind it. The 
guests streaming through the White House defiled past a man who. 



11 



in a level and docketed world, appeared to his generation as the reincarna- 
tion of forces primitive, overmastering, and heroic. An honest Odysseus ! 
— toil-worn and stormbeaten, yet still with the spirit and strength, the 
many devices of a boy ; capable, like his prototype, in one short day of 
crushing his enemies, upholding his friends, purifying his house ; and then, 
with the heat of righteous battle still upon him, with its gore, so to 
speak, still upon his hands, of turning his mind, without a pause and 
without hypocrisy, to things intimate and soft and pure — the domestic- 
sweetness of Penelope, the young promise of Telemachus. The President 
stood, a rugged figure, among the cosmopolitan crowd, breasting the 
modern world, like some ocean headland, yet not truly of it, one of the 
great fighters and workers of mankind, with a laugh that pealed above * 
the noise, blue eyes that seemed to pursue some converse of their own, 
and a hand that grasped and cheered, where other hands withdrew and 
repelled. This one man's will had now, for some years, made the pivot 
on which vast issues turned — issues of peace and war, of policy embracing 
the civilised world ; and here, one saw him in drawing-rooms, discussing 
Alaric's campaigns with an Oxford professor, or chatting with a young 
mother about her children." 

On leaving White House, Mr. Bryce and I lunched with Mr. Fisher. 
The Ambassador was exceedingly kind, and although very busy, placed the 
best part of a whole day at my service. At 5.45 on the same afternoon, in 
company with three agricultural experts from the National Department 
% bf Agriculture, Messrs. Chilcott, Jardine, and Briggs — who were also 
journeying to the Congress — I left Washington for Chicago on the 
Pennsylvania Express. Next afternoon at 4- p.m. on the very minute of 
time, we drew into the Chicago depot, having done a distance of almost 
900 miles. And two hours later I boarded the Overland Limited for 
Cheyenne. Next morning we crossed the Missouri River at Omaha. It 
was frozen solid, and all day we rushed through the snow-clad plains of 
Nebraska. Towards evening we encountered a blinding blizzard ; a 
hurricane of snow and sleet swept along the line, and finally our train 
slowed down and stopped. All night long the storm raged ; and as the 
dawn broke we could just make out, massed on a short side track beside 
us, three great transcontinental trains with their engines buried in snow 
and ice from cow-catcher to coal-box. The Union Pacific Company has 
adopted the electric block system by which at every half-mile signals rise 
and fall, and red lights change to green, at the touch of the passing 
engine ; and there is but little doubt that to this marvellous device was 
due our safety in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, on a single line, 
crowded with tremendous traffic. That same day, at noon, on the 23rd 
February, we reached Cheyenne, the Capital of the State of Wyoming, 
which lies roughly 2,000 miles from New York. 

Half an hour later the third annual meeting of the Trans-Missouri 
Dry-farming Congress Avas opened by His Excellency Governor Bryant 
B. Brooks of Wyoming, in the Capital Avenue Theatre, in the presence 
of a large and varied gathering. The proceedings were marked by great 
enthusiasm and sustained interest. Over 500 delegates were 
present. A great many more, however, were expected, but were delayed 
by the snowstorm. It is worthy of note that the first dry-farming congress 
was held in the City of Denver where, curiously enough, the first National 
Irrigation Congress also met. This first congress started as a sort of 
s ; de show to the National Live Stock Association, but it was soon seen 



12 



that many more farmers were interested in dry-farming than in 
pedigree stock. The second congress held in Salt Lake City was 
still. more successful; whilst the third* or Cheyenne Congress drew men 
from all parts of America and several from foreign countries. 

During the three days the congress lasted practically every phase of 
dry-farming was discussed, and the proceedings demonstrated, beyond all 
doubt, that this practice is now as firmly established as that of irrigation. 
Furthermore, it has now been placed on a thoroughly sound basis and the 
early sensational elements have been eliminated. At Cheyenne I had 
exceptional opportunities of meeting all sorts of men who are engaged 
in dry-land farming — scientists, land agents, experiment station experts, 
as well as practical farmers — and what struck me most of all was their 
unbounded faith in the movement. I also had a long and interesting 
conversation with Mr. W. H. Campbell — the author of the Campbell 
system of Dry-farming — and inspected his machine, the Campbell sub- 
surface packer, which was on view. An instructive exhibit of 
agricultural implements and various crops which had been grown on dry- 
lands was shown in a hall close by. It would take too much space to 
speak in detail of the various papers read at the congress, and I shall 
merely give their titles. 

Papers were read on dry-farming in Russia, China, Australia, Canada, 
Turkey, Brazil, and the Transvaal, and also concerning the following 
States : — Utah, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska, 
Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota. Special 
articles were also contributed on : — The Development of the West ; The 
Dry-farmer and Stock-grower ; Seed-breeding and its relation to Dry- 
farming ; Practical Dry-f arming ; The Relation of Dry-farming Develop- 
ment to Colonisation in the West ; The Legitimate Land Agent versus 
the Speculator Type ; Effect of Climate on Crops ; Government Experi- 
ments in Wyoming ; Scientific Agriculture and its Effects on the West ; 
Dry-farming and Live Stock Fattening ; Dry-farming and Railroad 
Development ; Dry-land Agricultural Investigations ; Physical Problems 
in connection with Dry-farming ; Adaptation of Dry-land Grain to local 
conditions ; Dry-farming on a Homestead — the last paper being read by a 
woman who had successfully established a homestead on the dry-lands of 
Colorado. 



Owing to the immense amount of business to be transacted during the 
nine sessions of the congress the Programme Committee made the 
excellent rule that no address or paper should exceed twenty minutes 
in delivery ; and speeches from the floor were limited to five minutes 
each. 

The work of the congress may be summarised as follows : — 

I. It demonstrated that the practice of dry-farming is attracting 

world-wide attention. 

II. That the recent agricultural prosperity in the United States 

is mainly due to the successful development of the semi-arid 
regions by dry-farming. 

III. That the two great problems in dry-farming are the conserva- 
tion of moisture and the maintenance of fertility. It was 

* The fourth Dry-Farming Congress will be held at Billings, Montana, on the 2(5th. 27th 
and 28th October. 1909. 



13 



instructive to note, however, that while the speakers from 
the East and the Great Plains area — the Dakotas, Kansas, and 
Nebraska — emphasised the need of fertility and the rotation 
of crops, those from the Far West or Great Basin area — 
Utah, Idaho, and Nevada — spoke altogether on the subject of 
the conservation of moisture by means of the summer fallow. 

IV. That in dry-farming not only rainfall but also evaporation 
must be carefully studied. This most important point was 
brought out by Dr. L. J. Briggs, Physicist to the National 
Department of Agriculture. 

V. That the dry-farm is largely a live stock problem, and that 

agricultural farming and stock farming should be combined 
as much as possible. 

VI. That irrigation — by means of windmills and small dams — 
should be allied to dry-farming whenever practicable. 

VII. That the study of dry-farming is lending new interest, hope, 
and dignity to western agriculture. 

During the congress a resolution was passed condemning all dishonest 
advertising, several speakers stating that the cause had been damaged 
by unscrupulous agents booming worthless land. Further, the name 
Trans-Missouri was dropped in view of the fact that the congress had now 
become an international affair, and the simple term " Dry-farming 
Congress " was adopted. s Arid farming which is largely used in Utah 
was also rejected, as well as the term Scientific Soil Culture. 



The following foreign delegates were present and a whole evening was 
devoted to their papers. Senator James H. McColl, of the Commonwealth 
of Australia, was unanimously elected Chairman, and worthily upheld the 
parliamentary traditions of the British Empire. 

(1) H. W. Fairfield, Esq., Dominion of Canada. 

(2) Senor Eomulo Escobar, Mexico. 

(3) Joseph A. Eosen, Esq., Eussia. 

(4) Dr. Lawrence Baeta-Neves, Brazil. 

(5) Dr. William Macdonald, Transvaal and British Colonial Office. 

(6) Senator James H. McColl, Commonwealth of Australia, 
Chairman of Congress. 

(7) D. W. Warner, Esq., Province of Alberta. 

President Eoosevelt's telegraphic message to the congress ran 
thus : — 

" I wish to extend to you greetings and congratulations upon your 
third annual meeting. I am deeply interested in the progress of your 
work. Any organisation having for its purpose the development of the 
agricultural resources of the great semi-arid sections of the United States 
should have the hearty support of all good citizens. I am in full sympathy 
with your efforts and appreciate hardships, privations, and difficulties 
with which the pioneers among the mountains and on the great plains 
have to contend. Eest assured that so far as lies within my power, every- 
thing that can be done to aid you will be done. The reclamation of our 
lands through irrigation, the conservation of our forests, and other natural 
resources, and the development of our semi-arid lands by such methods 
as you are now advocating, all tend to insure the growth and well-being of. 
this country. I trust that your meeting will be a great success and will! 



L4 



result in action that will command the confidence and support of the 
home builder, the man for whom we are all working."' 

I delivered the following messages, which were warmly received, 
and at the request of the President of the Congress, the entire audience 
rose and gave three hearty cheers for the Transvaal and the Empire. 
Thereafter, I read a paper on " Dry-land Farming in the Transvaal," and 
had the honour of being elected a Foreign Vice-President of the Congress 
and Corresponding Secretary for South Africa. 

Chairman : 

His Excellency, Bryant B. Brooks, 

Governor of "Wyoming and President of the Dry-farming Congress. 
Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

With your permission, I shall read three messages, which I have the 
honour to lay before this Congress. 

The first is from General the Eight Hon. Louis Botha, P.C., M.L.A., 
Prime Minister of the Transvaal and Minister of Agriculture. 

LETTERS. 
No. 1. 

South African National Convention, Capetown. 

13th January, 1909. 

To the Delegates oe the Trans-Missouri Dry-farming Congress. 
Gentlemen, 

I have instructed Dr. William Macdonald to convey to you on behalf 
of the Government of the Transvaal our most cordial good wishes for the 
success of your congress, and to assure you that the people of the Trans- 
vaal will follow your deliberations with much interest. 

The scientific study and utilisation of the dry-lands are subjects of 
the highest importance to the whole of South Africa, and the great 
advances which have bee^L made in the United States of America have 
encouraged us to hope tl >t the same results may be obtained in South 
Africa. 

Believe me, 

Gentlemen. 
Yours sincerely. 

Louis Botha, 
Prime Minister of the Transvaal 

and Minister of Agriculture. 



The second message I have been requested to convey to you is from 
His Excellency, the Earl of Selborne, P.C., Governor of the Transvaal 
and High Commissioner for South Africa. 

No. II. 

High Commissioner's Train, De Aar, 

12th January, 1909. 

Dear Dr. Macdonald, 

I think we have every reason to feel gratified for the kindness and 
courtesy of the Secretary of the Department of State in inviting the 
British Colonies in South Africa to take pari in the Dry-farming Congress. 



15 



which is to take place at Cheyenne at the end of February next, and for 
the great care which has evidently been taken by the board of control to 
make this Congress a success. You will be able to tell the gentlemen 
who receive you how much this courtesy is appreciated in South Africa 
and what great importance we attach to the success of this congress, for 
dry-farming is a scientific problem which it is as much to the interests of 
South Africa to solve as of the United States of America. 
Wishing you all success. 

Believe me, 
Yours very truly, 

Selborne, 
Governor of the Transvaal 
and High Commissioner for South Africa. 



The third message which I have been commissioned to lay before 
you is from the Eight Hon. the Earl of Crewe, P.C., M.A., Secretary of 
State for the Colonies. Sir Francis J. S. Hopwood, G-.C.M.G.. K.C.B., 
Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, writes as follows : — 

No. III. 

Colonial Office, Whitehall, London, 

9th February, 1909. 

Dr. William Macdonald, 

Langham Hotel, London. 

Sir, 

I am requested by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to ask you 
to convey to the President and Members of the Trans-Missouri Dry- 
farming Congress, which meets at Cheyenne, his most cordial good wishes 
for the success of their deliberations. Lord Crewe desires me to add 
that he has followed with keen interest the splendid progress which has 
been made in the reclamation and settlement of the arid lands of Western 
America ; and he is confident that the scientific study of the potentialities 
of those regions in which the rainfall is small and irregular will do much 
to promote the agricultural prosperity both of the United States and 
the British Empire. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Francis J. Hopwood, 
Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. 



Lastly, I am desired by the British Ambassador at Washington, 
the Eight Hon. James Bryce, O.M., P.O., to convey to you his 
best wishes for the success of this conference and to assure you of 
the great interest he takes in the agricultural development of Western 
America. 

As already mentioned, during the congress I had the pleasure of 
meeting Mr. Hardy W. Campbell, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Campbell 
is widely known throughout the west as the author of what is commonly 
called the Campbell Method of Dry-farming. As this practice has been 
both praised and censured it is rather hard to form a fair estimate of its 
real value. But during my last tour I have come to the following con- 
clusion.* Mr. Campbell has done much to advertise and popularise the 

* In this estimate of Campbell's work I am supported by Mr. Joseph A. Rosen, Chief of 
the Russian Bureau of Agriculture, of Ekaterinoslay. and by Mr. William M. Jardine,. 
Agronomist to the National Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 



16 



system which bears his name ; but he has not succeeded as an experiment- 
alist and he has few experiments to justify his assertions. The contention 
that his method of dr}^-f arming is the only proper one has not bee 
sustained — for example in Utah it is practically unknown : while hi~ 
statements at times are unreliable and misleading. The term " Scientific- 
Soil Culture/' which is so earnestly advocated by Campbell, is much too 
cumbersome and will assuredly not be accepted by the farming community 
as a substitute for the simple phrase d^-farming. 

The machine called the Campbell sub-surface packer, under certain 
conditions, gives good results ; but it must be used with care. Further- 
more, it is seldom of much use on soil that has had time to settle and 
become packed. It is therefore more valuable on spring than on fall or 
autumn ploughing. Where loose manure has been applied to the land it 
may be used to advantage, but on wet clayey ground it may seriously 
injure the mechanical and physical texture of the soil. In short, the 
Campbell sub-surface packer cannot be said to be essential to success in 
dry-farming, although under certain conditions it is decidedly beneficial: 

Nevertheless, it is not fair to disparage Campbell's missionary efforts 
amongst the farmers of the west. It is often said, and truly so, that 
Jethro Tull was the first exponent of the so-called Campbell system of 
soil culture ; but it should not be forgotten that Tull did not work under 
semi-arid conditions, and secondly, that although his practice was success- 
ful, his theories were erroneous. Be that as it may, the fact remains that 
a large number of western farmers believe in Campbell's teaching, and 
many have followed his system or like methods with success. 

At the end of this Chapter the well-chosen motto of the 
Congress — conservation, cultivation, education — has been sketched, and I 
shall now close with a short extract which is taken from a personal letter 
from His Excellency Edwin L. Norris, Governor of Montana, and President 
of the Fourth Dry-farming Congress which sums up its purpose and 
scope : — 

" The, Dry-farming Congress, while American in its inception, knows 
no country, its one object being the ' further development of agriculture 
throughout the world by the utilisation of scientific and sensible methods 
of conservation and cultivation where irrigation is impracticable or 
impossible.' To the accomplishment of this object the congress is bend- 
ing every energy, and in the three years of its history it has done an 
amount of good that cannot be computed in mere figures. It aims to 
bring together, from every country on the globe, the leaders in a movement 
that is fraught with so much importance to the people of all lands. It 
purposes to hasten in every way possible the day when the application of 
scientific methods to agriculture will add countless millions of acres to the 
areas now under cultivation, and so contribute tremendously to the world's 
supply of breadstuff's and to its wealth." 

From Cheyenne I returned eastwards -through Sioux City to St. Paul 
where I called on Mr. J. J. Hill, who is popularly known as the " Empire 
Builder of the West." Besides being the foremost railroad director in 
America, Mr. Hill has also won a wide reputation as an agricultural 
economist. He was born in the year 1838 on a small farm in Canada : 
and has recently given the sum of half a million dollars to endow a Roman 
Catholic Seminary in St. Paul. Half a century ago two farm lads started 
out to win fame and fortune. The one, a Canadian — James J. Hill — 
became the railroad builder of the American North-west ; the other an 




James J. Hill, 

" The Empire-Builder of the West," 



17 



American — Sir Thomas Shaughnessy — crossed over into Canada and to-day 
controls the destinies of the Dominion's greatest railroad. Mr. Hiii 
received me with the utmost cordiality and gave me the greater part of a 
forenoon to the discussion of rural problems. He is a profound believer 
in the necessity of conserving the natural resources of the State, and lays 
special emphasis on the value of small farms and the maintenance of 
fertility by the rotation of crops ; and his words " Show me a large farm 
and I will show you a farm full of weeds and badly cultivated," seem 
deserving of our attention. His agricultural gospel may be summed up 
in a single sentence : Small holdings, well tilled, and the maintenance of 
fertility by manure. In England, Denmark, and Holland where the 
farms are small and well cultivated the yields are high ; but in the United 
States, Russia, and Australia where too often the ground is merely 
scratched the average yield per acre is lamentably low. Speaking of 
agricultural education, Mr. Hill said : " You can't bring all farmers to 
an agricultural college ; therefore you must train men to go out amongst 
them to make experiments in growing seeds, breeding new plants, and 
feeding animals and the like, things a farmer cannot well do by himself. 
I have advocated the taking over of fifty agricultural counties in the 
State of Minnesota and placing them under the care of graduates of the 
State College of Agriculture. Each expert could take charge of ten or 
twelve farms and prepare, say, one or two acres on each farm for seeding to 
wheat. Give the farmer the purest seed and show him how to raise thirty 
bushels of wheat to the acre in place of the 8-12 bushels of the Red River 
Valley, and so on with other crops. But use acre plots, not anvthing 
less/' 

Touching land settlement, Mr. Hill laid great emphasis on the value 
of the Homestead Act in the development of America, notwithstanding 
the abuses which have arisen in connection with its administration. Then 
turning to South Africa he said : " Offer free land to settlers, but look 
well to the character of your immigrants. Consider quality rather than 
quantity. The stream will never rise above its source. If you poison 
your country with an inferior class of settlers the whole land will 
ultimately become infected." 

Hill was the first to formulate the now widely accepted railroad policy 
ci the West. That is to say, he never waited for population, but boldly pushed 
his lines across the deserts to the Pacific Coast,* and is to-day reaping the 
rich reward of his courageous enterprise in enormous freight and passenger 
traffic. So he laid the Great Northern rails for a thousand miles over 
the prairies of the North- West and then sent his immigration agents far 
and wide throughout the world to bid the poor but sturdy peasant 
"welcome" to the free lands beyond the sea. 

I have already written in the pages of the Transvaal Agricultural 
Journal of the great work which has been done by the A gri cultural School 
and College of the University of Minnesota. But two things impressed 
me during this last visit. In the first place, I happened to be present 
at the annual Alumni banquet of the School of Agriculture and listened 
that evening to three Senators discoursing on the agricultural bills which 



* On 10th May, 1909, forty years had elapsed since the rails of the Union Pacific moving 
westward met the rails of the Central Pacific moving eastward, at Promontory Point, near 
Ogden, Utah, and the first transcontinental railway was completed. Six railroads now span 
the United States, and 230,000 miles, or 47 per cent, of the railway system of the entire 
world, have been built. 



18 



they would shortly introduce in the Legislative Assembly. Senator 
J. M. Hackney spoke on his bill for establishing a system of rural instruc- 
tion by correspondence in connection with the School of Agriculture. 
Senator A. D. Stephens spoke on his bill for establishing a new Agricul- 
tural High School at Crookston, and Senator J. T. Elwell spoke on his. 
bill for the enlargement of the Campus. When politicians take such a 
profound and practical interest in an agricultural college, it is small 
wonder that its progress and growth are very rapid. Secondly, I witnt sect 
an instructive example of the way in which the Minnesota agricultural 
experts are carrying the gospel to the farmer. Some thirty miles from 
Minneapolis is the village of Elk Eiver. To this place I journeyed in 
order to be present at the last Farmers' Institute of that sea on. The 
meeting started at 10 a.m. and went on till 4 p.m., with an interval of 
one hour. Mr.. Forest Henry, the farmers 7 representative, opened the dis- 
cussion with an address on " clover/' and he was followed by Mr. A. E. 
Kohler who spoke on " potatoes." It was interesting to note how these 
two men kept the grip of the audience for four solid hours ; each speaking 
for about ten minutes at a time. I was specially struck with the good- 
fellowship which prevailed between the experiment station expert and 
the conductor of the institute. Mr. Henry oftentimes interrupted 
"brother" Kohler with a call for a clearer explanation, but the latter 
never failed to respond with the utmost patience and most perfect good 
humour, although this constant catechising at times broke the thread of 
his discourse. I have elsewhere pointed out* how the Farmers' Institutes 
bridged the gulf which prevailed between the University and the people 
of Minnesota, and my visit to Elk Eiver reaffirmed my faith in a great 
and powerful College of Agriculture as the best means of transmitting' the 
message of the Experiment Station and the laboratory to the hearths 
and homes of the farming community. 



Dry- Farming Congress. 




THE CONGRESS HAS BUT ONE OBJECT- THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BY THE UTILIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND SENSI- 
BLE METHODS OF CONSERVATION AND CULTIVATION WHERE 
IRRIGATION LS IMPRACTICAL OR IMPOSSIBLE. 



* "Agricultural Education in America," Transvaal Agricultural Jot/ rnal, page 2S7. 
January, 1908. 



11) 

Chapter II. 



TO THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
From Minneapolis I journeyed to Ithaca where I spent some time at 
Cornell, and thence to Columbia. Thereafter I returned to Washington 
where I spent ten days in the National Department of Agriculture. It is 
just seventy years since the first steps were taken in the United States to 
aid agriculture through the Federal Government, And in the summer of 
1839 an appropriation of $1,000 was set aside for the purpose of dis- 
tributing seed and collecting agricultural statistics. What a wonderful 
growth has been made in these seventy years ! For we find that the last 
annual appropriation for this department alone was almost $13,000,000, 
Avhile the staff numbers 10,186. To-day the efforts of the 
department are being mainly directed to the conservation of 
the national resources of the country, while at the same time 
increasing the productivity of the field. The alpha and omega of this 
great organisation is the practical application of modern science to the 
service of the farmer. It can perhaps be best summed up in a homely 
remark of the honoured Secretary,* who, on assigning new duties to an 
expert said : " Don't tell me now about your laboratories. Tell me what 
you are doing for the man at the plough, out in the fields, with his coat 
off." 



In such a department it is plainly impossible, even if one had 
several weeks for the purpose to see one tithe of the work of the different 
divisions, and so I concentrated my attention entirely on those branches 
which bear specially on dry-farming. 

In Washington I had the pleasure of again meeting Mr. E. C. Chilcott, 
Agriculturist in charge of Dry_-land Agriculture Investigations, under the 
Department of Agriculture. Before coming to Washington, Mr. 
Chilcott was Professor of Agriculture and Geology in the South Dakota 
Agricultural College and had a long and wide experience in dry-farming 
in the Great Plains area. Mr. Chilcott was appointed to his present 
position in July, 1905, and so the work of the National Department in 
dry-land agriculture may be said to have begun at that time. Under 
Mr. Chilcott's direction this work has expanded in a remarkable manner, 
and already we find that eleven dry-land experiment stations have beeu 
established, and several more will be started in the course of the next year 
or so. The area over which these operations extend is truly enormous 
and may be said to reach, roughly, from the Mississippi westward to the 
Sierra Nevada, mountains in California, and the arid valleys of Oregon 
and Washington, and from the international boundary line southward to 
the Panhandle of Texas — in all a tract of country comprising about one 
million square miles. 

The policy of the department is to work in cordial harmony with the 
various State Governments and to supplement, but not to interfere with, 
any work which may already be in progress. Thus we find that dry-land 
experiment stations have now been established at the following points in 
conjunction with the various States : — In North Dakota, at Williston, 
Dickinson, and Edgeley ; in South Dakota, at Belief ourche ; in Nebraska. 



* The Hon. James Wilson who has been Secretary of Agriculture for a period of twelve 
years, serving continuously under three Presidents. 



20 



at North Platte ; in Kansas, at Hays and Garden City ; in Colorado, at 
Akron; in Texas, at Amarillo and Dalhart ; and in Montana, at Judith 
Basin. Of these stations four, viz., Bellefourche, Akron, Amarillo, and 
Dalhart, are entirely operated by the National Department. 

To understand the scheme adopted we may take as an example the 
three North Dakota stations. The United States Department affords the 
following co-operative assistance : — First, in paying the salary and travel- 
ling expenses of the expert appointed to take charge of this work. But 
it is of interest to note that this expert is usually a graduate of the State 
Agricultural College, recommended by the local authorities and approved 
by the Secretary of Agriculture. This official therefore becomes a civil 
servant. He is usually engaged on probation at a. salary of $720 (£144) 
per annum, and if he proves satisfactory rises by annual increa es until he 
-receives from $1,400 (£280) to $1,500 (£300), and in addition the sum of 
from $300 to $400 for travelling and incidental expenses. 

Secondly, the National Department assists in the purchase of any 
special machinery which the State farm may require, as, for example, 
the small threshing machine* used for threshing the harvest of the 
experimental plots. 



The figures f which I am able to print below, through the courtesy of 
Mr. Chilcott, show the amount set aside for each dry-land experiment 
station. It must be remembered that these sums do not indicate the 
total moneys expended or used by these stations. Take, for illustration, 
the station Bellefourche with an allotment of $4,200 (£840). Here Mr. 
C. S. Scofield, the expert in charge of the Western Extension Investigations, 
has been granted a sum of $2,000 (£400) to carry on certain experiments, 
and it is impossible to say exactly how much money is expended on a particu- 
lar set of experiments, as the teams, ploughs, and hired men are lent by 
mutual agreement among the different officers of the State and National 
Department. Again, it should be noted that where the National Government 
takes all the burden of the maintenance of the station, as, for example, 
at Bellefourche, Akron, and Dalhart, the amount expended is much 
greater. It may be said, however, roughly, that to run a station alone 
without the assistance of the State authorities necessitates the annual 
expenditure of $5,000 (£1,000) after the station is established. This amount 
is, of course, noticeably reduced when the State bears its share of the 
financial burden. Furthermore, the cost of maintenance will depend also 
on the nature of the soil. At Dalhart, Texas, where the soil is light and 
sandy three horses are required to do the work ; but at Bellefourche six 
are usually employed owing to the heavy clay land which is found in that 
region. With regard to revenue, it may be stated that it has never been 
the intention of the Government to make money out of these stations. 
In a word, they are soil and plant laboratories, established to assist the- 
farming population. 

Touching results : The time since these stations were started is too 
short to speak with any certainty as to the ultimate results likely to 
accrue. But one thing is certain, that in emphasising the need of better - 

* These machines cost about $125, and can be bought from the A. B. Farquhar Company, 
of York, Pennsylvania. 

f For the sake of accuracy I have set down the figures of expenditure on Experiment 
Stations or cost of implements in American money ($4.84 cents = £1); dividing by 5 
will give the approximate equivalent in English coinage. For example three hundred dollar? • 
written $300.00-^5=£60 approximately. 



21 



tillage and the necessity for conserving the moisture and fertility of the 
soil they having already had a great and far-reaching influence for good. 

Annual Expendituke on Dry-land Experiment Stations. 



Name. 

Williston, North Dakota 

Dickinson, North Dakota 

Edgeley, North Dakota 

Bellefourche, South Dakota . . 

North Platte, Nebraska 

Hays, Kansas 

Garden City, Kansas 

Akron, Colorado 

Amarillo, Texas . 

Dalhart, Texas . . '. 

Judith Basin, Montana 

One Travelling Field Assistant . . 
Office Expenses 

Total 



Allotment. 



$300.00 


— 


£60 








1,200:00 


= 


240 








1,500. UU 




QAA 


A 

u 


A 

u 


4,200.00 




840 








1,700.00 




340 








1,050.00 




210 








1,000.00 




200 








4,527.00 




905 


8 





1,000.00 




200 








4,000.00 




800 








1,850.00 




370 








4,000.00 




800 








5,439.25 




1,088 









$31,766.25 =£6,353 8 

[approximately. 



Another official who took a great deal of time and trouble to make 
my stay in the Capital profitable was Mr. W. M. Jardine, Agronomist in 
Charge of Experiments with Dry-land Grains. Mr. Jardine has had a long 
experience in connection with dry-land farming operations. He was 
born in southern Idaho in a dry-farming zone, and from thence he went 
into Utah where for some time he was manager of a large arid farm, 
situated in the Dog Valley, some eight miles from the town of 
Nephi, a well-known dry-farming section. In passing it should be said 
that Utah is the State which has done more than any other in the United 
States to advance the practice of dry-farming. Jardine's special work is 
in connection with the development of new types of grains especially 
adapted to dry-land conditions, giving particular attention to the small 
grains, wheat,* oats, and barley. He is a strong advocate of the need of 
one particular variety of wheat in place of the great number of different 
sorts which have been previously grown. 

He recommends for a winter variety for the dry-lands of the west, 
the Turkey Eed, Kharkov, and Crimean wheats — the group commonly 
known as Crimean wheats because they were introduced into the United 
States from the Crimea. Winter wheat is planted from the 15th of 
August to the 15th of October and is harvested from the 1st of July to 
the 1st of August. The above named wheats have proved to be the best 
varieties for years past when grown as winter wheat. It should also 
be stated that winter wheat is much more profitable and gives a much 
larger yield per acre on the dry lands than spring wheat, and is therefore 
grown wherever possible. With regard to spring wheats on dry lands, 
that is, wheat planted in April or May, the hardiest varieties undoubtedly 
are those of the Durum group, which were introduced into the United 
States in 1902. 

Jardine has done a great work in teaching the dry-farmer of the west 
the absolute necessity of organisation for the production of one uniform 

* It is worthy of remark that the wheat grown in California is a soft variety and is. 
therefore, not suitable when used alone for milling purposes. It has been found that the 
introduction of wheat from Kansas and Utah, which is of a harder type, is very beneficial in 
strengthening the weaker qualities of the California wheat. 



type of grain — -just as has been done in connection with the citrus fruit 
industry of California, which is the most conspicuous example in modern 
horticulture of co-operation in the production of one particular product, 
namely, the Navel orange. 

During my stay at Washington, I had also the pleasure of renewing 
my acquaintance with Dr. L. J. Briggs, the Physicist in Charge of Dry- 
land Investigations. Briggs, although still a young man, has already won 
distinction by reason of his researches in soil physics and more especially 
for the ingenious instruments which he has devised for automatically 
recording precipitation and evaporation. Special attention is being given 
to the study of the moisture relations under different methods of cultiva- 
tion, different crops, and different climatic conditions. • The moisture con- 
tent of each foot of soil is determined by sampling with a soil-tube, drying- 
each sample, and then weighing it and noting the difference in weight. These 
soil tubes are made of cold rolled seamless steel tubing and are so con- 
structed that samples can be taken to a depth of fifteen feet if necessary. 
A comparative study of soil temperatures in lands giving different 
methods of treatment is also in progress. That is to say, the temperature 
of the seed-bed under summer fallow, fall (autumn) and spring ploughing 
is being carefully studied. The worth of these matters is too plain to 
need any emphasis ; but they all go to show how profound and varied 
are the problems which come under the head of dry-farming. Summing 
up it may be said that the main efforts of the Department of Agriculture 
in dry-land agriculture are to be found along the following lines : — Soil 
management, cereal investigations, plant breeding, soil moisture determina- 
tions, meteorological research, and lastly, but by no means least, 
bacteriological studies. And when it is remembered much of the work is 
done in the Bureau of Plant Industry — a division that now numbers 
1,058 persons— the number of experts at the service of the dry-farmer will 
be more readily realised. 

.Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry, kindly gave 
me the following information in regard to forest planting in the semi-arid 
regions and the influence of windbreaks upon the surrounding crops. 

The semi-arid plains of the United States are almost wholly lacking 
in native timber. With the gradual settlement of this region, however, 
considerable planting has been done for protection against wind, for the 
production of farm material, and for decorative purposes. Hardy 
drought-resistant trees, such as honey locust, Russian mulberry, black 
locust, green ash, hackberry, box elder, yellow pine, Scotch pine, and 
jack pine have been most frequently used. Cottonwood, silver maple, and 
lombardy poplar have been planted to some extent in moister localities. 
Thorough and frequent cultivation to check evaporation of moisture 
from the soil is necessary for successful tree growth on the semi-arid 
plains. 

The deodar cedar and coulter pine have been planted experimentally 
by the Forest Service in the semi-arid mountain regions of southern 
California. Although the experiments have been conducted but for a 
short time, the results indicate that both of these trees can be successfully 
grown under rather trying conditions in that region. Other species which 
are being planted on the National Forests in regions of deficient rainfall 
are yellow pine, jack pine, Douglas hr, and Engelmann sprnce. 



23 



Careful investigations of windbreaks and their influences in the 
States of Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas point toward the following general 
conclusions : — 

Windbreaks inevitably damage crops immediately adjacent to them in 
three practical ways : — (1) By sapping moisture otherwise available for 
the agricultural crops ; (2) by shading ; and (3) by subjecting adjacent 
crops to damage from frost, clue to stagnation of the air in their lee. 

On the other hand, windbreaks directly benefit crops (1) by retarding 
dry winds and thus decreasing evaporation ; (2) by impeding cold winds 
and thus modifying the average temperature ; and (3) by breaking the 
force of severe winds which would otherwise break down and injure 
portions of the crop. 

For all crops the advantages of good windbreaks far outweigh their 
objectionable features. The beneficial effects extend to a considerable 
distance — ten or more times the height of the trees — from the windbreak, 
while the injurious effects are for the most part quite closely confined 
to the immediate vicinity of the windbreak. Actual measurements show 
that the yield of crops protected by windbreaks, while considerably less 
where close to the trees, is well above the normal yield of unprotected 
crops for a great distance out from the windbreak. The increase takes 
the form of a curve, lowest near the windbreak, rapidly reaching a crest 
at a distance from the windbreak of about one or two times the height of 
the trees, and gradually tapering off to a normal yield at a point usually 
over eight or ten times the height of the trees. So great is this increase 
that it has been reliably estimated that a shelter-belt twice as wide as 
the trees are high will pay for itself in the increased productivity of the 
protected field, without taking into account the value of the wood pro- 
duced. The damage from shading and sapping varies with the kind of 
crop, but the protective influence is felt by all crops. 

In the Western States it is recommended that windbreaks be always 
planted in an east and west direction, since in this position they are most 
likely to retard the prevailing winds. The composition of windbreaks is 
of considerable importance. Windbreaks of cottonwood trees are on the 
whole the best, since they attain a good height without causing excessive 
damage from shading. Osage orange, honey locust, silver maple, and a 
number of hardier conifers such as Scotch pine and white spruce have 
also proved very satisfactory for windbreak purposes. Windbreaks should 
always be made up of several rows of trees, since a single row is much 
less efficient as a protection from wind, while the damaging effect to the 
crops is practically the same. 



I next proceeded to the Department of the Interior, where I called 
upon the Commissioner of Lands, Mr. Fred. Dennett, in connection with 
a subject in which I have long been interested, viz.. Land Settlement. 
The Commissioner spoke eloquently of the free homestead in the develop- 
ment of America : but emphasised the need of a strict" residential clause 
to prevent fraud. In answer to the question : "What should be the size 
of a farm in the dry regions," he replied : "A family unit, or, in other 
words, the smallest area that will support an average-sized family. There 
should be no hard and fast rule as so much depends on the locality. 
As far as possible, land laws should be treated as local or State problems. 
In the past the United States Government made the serious mistake of 
applying the same unit to all States which came under the Homestead Act. 



Now an effort is being made to take into account the essential differences 
of climate and soil, an idea which has been followed in the recent Mondell 
Bill which is only applicable to dry-farming regions." Speaking of the 
section, Mr. Dennett remarked : " The section has proved an excellent 
unit in land settlement. As you are aware it contains 640 acres and is 
one mile square. Consequently, it is a very convenient number to sub- 
divide, and may be measured in several different ways. Further, it is just 
as convenient for small irrigation projects of forty acres as for large dry- 
farms of 640 acres as under the Ivinkaid Act in Nebraska."* 

I shall now briefly touch on the Homestead Act, the Mondell Land 
Bill, and the Tree Claim Act. Of all nations the United States stands 
pre-eminent as the one which, having early been confronted with the 
great problem of land settlement, has mastered it in a most marvellous 
manner. It would take too long to sketch the steps which led up to the 
Homestead Act of 1862, but it may be said that this law was the result, 
in part at least, of the agitation of a political body then termed the Free 
Soil Democrats. They maintained " that the public lands of the United 
States belong to the people, and should not be sold to individuals, nor 
granted to corporations, but should be held as sacred trust for the 
benefit of the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of 
cost, to landless settlers." This was the origin of the famous law which 
enables landless farmers to secure a quarter section, viz., 160 acres of 
land, and to acquire a title to the same by residing and cultivating the 
land for a continuous period of five years. I have not the latest statistics 
by me, but in the year 1904 over 233jt)00,000 acres had been entered. 
And there can be no doubt that this magnificent law has done more than 
anything else to fill the United States with a free, prosperous, and 
contested people. Unhappily, abuses crept into the administration of the 
Act in the more sparsely populated centres, and the chief of these was due 
to what was termed the Commutation Clause, whereby it was possible 
for a settler to commute his homestead at the end of fourteen months on 
payment of $1.25 per acre. This led to grave abuses, as the first six 
months was merely a nominal residence, or, in other words, a settler 
could, by residing for a period of eight months, obtain a free homestead. 
This clause was severely condemned by the recent Public Lands Com- 
mission, appointed by President Boosevelt to enquire into these matters. 
Other abuses were common in the pioneering days, such as a ranchman 
persuading his cowboys " to prove up " — that is to file a claim — on quarter 
sections for a certain remuneration in order to obtain for him several 
sections for grazing purposes. Notwithstanding all these frauds the 
Homestead Act of 1862 — like the Morrill Actf of the same year — will 
stand out for ever as a noble and enduring piece of legislation. 

Let us now turn to the Mondell Land Law. This Act, which was 
approved 19th February, 1909, provides for' an enlarged free homestead. 
That is to say, a settler can acquire an area of 320 acres or less of non- 
mineral, non-timbered, non-irrigable public land in the States of Colorado, 
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and in the Ter- 
ritories of Arizona and New Mexico. This Act is construed to mean land 
which requires the application of dry-farming methods to make it produce 
agricultuFal crops. Final proof must be made as in the ordinary home- 
stead, and, further, at least one-fourth of the whole area must be shown 



* Free homesteads of one section can be obtained on the dry sand-hills of western Nebraska, 
t Act establishing colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts in the United States. 



25 



to have been continuously cultivated to agricultural crops other than 
native grasses, beginning with the third year of the entry and continuing 
to date of final proof. Furthermore, commutation is expressly forbidden. 
An interesting additional clause is inserted in this Act in regard to the 
State of Utah, to the effect that on lands which have not sufficient water 
upon them for domestic purposes, continuous residence is not necessary, 
but the entryman may reside at such distance as will enable him to farm 
successfully, "as the case may be. Moreover, he must show that he has 
cultivated not less than one-half of the total area during the fourth and 
fifth years after entry. 

Finally, the Tree Claim Act. From 18T3 until 1891— the year in 
which it was repealed — a Timber Culture Act, or what was more widely 
and popularly termed the Tree Claim Act, was in force. This Act, as 
first passed, enabled every person to obtain not more than 160 acres of 
land by planting 40 acres of timber and properly caring for it during ten 
years. Later, the number of acres of timber required was reduced to ten, 
and the period of cultivation to eight years. This law proved a failure 
so far as the growing of trees was concerned ; but over 44,000,000 acres 
of land were entered by this method. The Tree Claim Act was finally 
abandoned on account of the numerous frauds which were found to have 
occurred in connection with it. Settlers too often swore that their trees 
were growing when they were all dead through lack of care, or killed by 
frost, and so obtained the title-deeds to their homesteads. Nevertheless. 
I am convinced that this law should never have been repealed. Surely 
honest experts attached to the Land Department could have been detailed 
to see that the trees were properly cared for ? To-day many progressive 
farmers are planting trees for shelter and shade around their homesteads : 
but even the kindest critic must feel that the Federal Government has 
failed lamentably in not doing more to encourage the planting of shelter 
belts in the great semi-arid regions of the West. In closing a most 
instructive interview, the United States Commissioner of Lands remarked 
ttiat, if a Tree Claim Law could be enacted on the treeless zones of South 
Africa, with proper restrictions, it would doubtless prove of untold value 
to the dry-land settler as well as to the country at large. 



Chapter III. 



TO THE DRY FARMS OF THE WEST. 



From Washington I returned to Chicago, where I visited the University 
of that city and then returned to Minneapolis. My next journey was to 
the dry-farms of the West.* I left Minneapolis en route for Texas, on the 
North-western railroad, reached Omaha the same night, and Kansas City, 
in Missouri, the following morning. It had been a week of snow and 
slush in the North-west, and I was glad to find much milder weather in 
Kansas, where the grass was green and the trees in blossom. For a whole 
day we traversed the fertile State of Kansas, and I was much struck with 
the evidence of agricultural prosperity. This is the more remarkable 



* 1 am indebted to Mr. E. C. Chilcott, Agriculturist in Charge of Dry-Land Investigations. 
United States Department of Agriculture, for the admirable itinerary which he kindly planned 
for me and to which I closely adhered. 



when it is remembered that twenty years ago Kansas was best known as 
a land of abandoned homesteads, droughts, and hot winds. To-day, it is 
not uncommon to see farmers bringing their produce to the market in motor- 
cars. This change in conditions is chiefly due to the rise in land values. 
At the time 1 have mentioned land could be bought at 75 cents per acre ; 
now it can readily be sold at $5, $10, and $20 per acre. 

Another reason is undoubtedly that better methods of tillage have 
been adopted, largely due to the teaching of the Agricultural College and 
the influence of the Experiment Stations. Possibly the most striking 
thing is the widespread cultivation of alfalfa (lucerne). You see it every- 
where — vast fields of vivid green, patches in gardens, clumps by the road- 
side. It is not too much to say that the recent agricultural transformation 
of Kansas is mainly due to the culture of lucerne". Cattle are pastured 
on it, and hogs are turned loose to graze at will. Corn (maize), of course, 
is a great crop also, and does excellently on the deep black loam. It is 
generally planted with a listing plough.* The tilth of the fields was very 
fine and mellow. The Poland China type of hog is chiefly raised. After 
being fed on lucerne for a year or so, they are fed on corn (maize) for 
about sixty days and shipped to market. 

The fields were also green with winter wheat, which is largely grown. 
It is sown in the fall (autumn), and during the winter months cattle are 
grazed on it. This wheat is harvested in June and July. Sheep are not 
raised in this part of the West, farmers holding that sheep injure the 
pasturage for cattle. 

The subject of prohibition may not at first sight seem to come within 
the scope of an agricultural report, but to my mind there is no doubt that 
the dry-town has had a beneficial effect on the dry-farmer. The State of 
Kansas has gone solid for prohibition, with the result that whereas in the 
city of Wichita, with a population of 50,000, where formerly there were 
fifty saloons, there are none to-day. The law is now being rigorously 
enforced, not _by the local but by the State authorities. In short, the 
hard-won earnings of the farmer and the mechanic, which formerly were 
too often dissipated in the down-town saloon, are now being expended in 
better food and clothes for themselves and their families. It would be 
outside my province to ent^r into a discussion of the pros and cons of this 
great problem, but I would merely say that the American farmer has 
added to his industry, his courage, and his intelligence the sterling virtue 
of sobriety. And in modern competition it is sheer folly to minimise the 
driving force and staying power of a water-drinking people. 

During the evening we passed through the north-west corner of 
'Oklahama, and next morning we were speeding through the flat sandy 
plains of the Panhandle of Texas. 

Texas, the Lone Star State, has many curious laws. Take the ques- 
tion of railroads. You may enter the State on the * Santa Fe Railway n ; 
a little later you find yourself on the " Southern Kansas of Texas," and 
finally on the " Pecos and Northern Texas " — but still all under the Santa 
Fe system. I was told that the Texas Railroad Commission demands that 
every railway entering the State must maintain separate administration 
and clerical establishments within the State, under distinct names, other- 
wise it might be possible to operate a great railway such as the Santa Fe 
directly from an office in Chicago, one thousand miles away. 



* See description on page 32. 



27 



A short sketch of the Panhandle, which has recently become so note- 
worthy as a dry-farming country, may be of interest. Twenty years ago 
the nearest railroad point was 500 miles away, and this region 
was best known as being the greatest ranching country in the world. It 
was here that the cattlemen and cowboys of the famous " X.Y.Z." ranch 
rounded up their vast herds every spring. This ranch consisted of 
3,000,000 acres, and one line of fencing extended for 127 miles. The 
reader may ask how such a huge tract of land happened to come under 
the management of one company. It was in this wise : — 

The late Mr. Abner Taylor, of Chicago, an architect, gox a concession 
of 3,000,000 acres of land from the State of Texas at one dollar per acre 
on condition that he built a State Capitol at Austin. That is to say, the 
State did not contribute one cent towards this project, but simply gave 
this vast tract of land, and Mr. Taylor had to try as best he could to raise 
three million dollars. Failing to raise sufficient funds in the United 
States, Mr. Taylor called in three English capitalists and secured them 
as the trustees of this enormous estate, which was then incorporated under 
the name of the " Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company, Ltd."' 
For a long time this land was considered worthless, except for grazing 
purposes, and could not be sold at fifty cents (2s.) an <icre. To-day a 
portion of this property has passed into the hands of an American syndi- 
cate, and is now being sold to actual settlers at from $10 (£2) per acre 
and upwards. Two reasons may be given for this rise. In the first place it 
is due to the high price now being given for land in the Eastern States, 
where farmers can easily dispose of their farms at $150 per acre. Leaving 
the crowded and worn-out fields of the Atlantic States, they can come 
to the sunlit plains of Texas, where land is one-tenth or less than the 
price of their old farms. Take a farmer with 100 acres in the 
East ; he can easily change that for a holding of 1,500 acres in the 
Panhandle, more than enough for himself and his family. 

Secondly, the development of dry-farming all over the West has 
stimulated the immigration of settlers into this region. To-day there 
are few or no free homesteads to be had in the State of Texas, and the 
intending settler has to purchase raw unbroken prairie at an average price 
of $7.50 per acre. In the early days a section (640 acres) of land could 
be purchased at one dollar . (4s.) per acre from the Government, payable 
over a period of forty years, with a merely nominal residence. But with 
the gradual settlement of the State land can no longer be had on these 
terms. 

I stepped off at Amarillo, the chief town in the Panhandle region. 
Amarillo is a Mexican word meaning " Yellow City." The name, how- 
ever, does not indicate the presence of gold dust. Here you find a town 
of about 15,000 inhabitants, which is the distributing point of four rail- 
roads. The chief crops raised in the vicinity are Kaffir corn, milo 
(sorghum), wheat, oats, alfalfa (lucerne), and corn (maize). A large 
packing house has just been erected. The raising of hogs is becoming 
a great industry, but as yet there are few sheep on these plains. Horses 
do excellently, and Texas mares have been mated with English thorough- 
breds with good results. 

Amarillo has always been an important cattle shipping depot, and in 
the early days the long-horned Texas steers were rounded up in 
thousands to this centre, for a radius of over 200 miles. But 
the big-horned ox, like the buffalo, has entirely disappeared from the 
plains of the Panhandle^ and his place has been taken by the placid 



28 



dehorned white-face Hereford. Indeeed, all over the prairies of the West 
and the plains of the South-west the Hereford is the dominant breed, 
and is now largely displacing the shorthorn. The Hereford has been 
found to mature earlier, has proved a better rustler, and seems to stand 
the long hot days of summer better than the shorthorn. The entire 
Panhandle may be characterised as a dry-farming country, there being 
few streams of any note. Water is obtained by boring, and is generally 
struck at depths of from 100 to 300 feet, but it seldom rises more than 
a few feet. The soil in general is a loam of three to five feet in depth, 
resting on a limestone formation. The grass is short and wiry, but succu- 
lent,, and consists mainly of buffalo grass and grama. 

The Dry-land Experiment Station established by the National 
Department of Agriculture is situated one mile and a half from the centre 
of the town. The superintendent, Mr. John F. Ross, was good enough 
to spend a whole afternoon in showing me over the station. Mr. Ross 
worked on his father's farm until he was 25 years of age, and then 
entered the Kansas State College of Agriculture and graduated Bachelor 
of Science in Agriculture. Entering the Civil Service, he was first 
appointed Instructor in Agriculture to the Indians in the Department of 
the Interior, and later transferred to his present post. 

The work in dry-farming under the auspices of the Department of 
Agriculture was begun in the Panhandle in 1903, and two years later Mr. 
Carlton, United States Cerealist, established this station. It was taken 
on a five years' lease, and at the time of my visit was about to be vacated, 
as the owner, an Amarillo citizen, had decided to resume his property and 
cut it up into town lots. The station comprises 100 acres, of which 60 
are in cultivation. It is purely a dry-land station — no stock being kept. 
Water is purchased at the rate of 15 cents per barrel, being hauled out 
of town and delivered at the station for that price. Fortunately, it is 
only needed for drinking and domestic purposes, and to supply the 
evaporation tank, of which I shall speak later. 

This station is subsidised by the Federal Government, which spends* 
on its upkeep about $4,000 per annum. The State, as yet, has not con- 
tributed anything to its support. The staff consists of a superintendent, 
and two hired unskilled labourers at $50 (£10) per month (without board). 
Teams have to be hired for ploughing, harvesting, etc. This costs $5 (£1) 
per day for two horses and a driver. 

The average precipitation (rain, snow, hail) at Amarillo for the last 
seventeen years has been 22.03 inches. The rain falls mostly from April 
to October inclusive — that is, during the growing season (spring and 
summer). In winter very little rain falls, and during the past seven 
months only 2.4 inches fell. 

The soil is a chocolate coloured clay loam from three and a half to 
five feet deep, resting on a limestone formation of one to two feet thick, 
below which is a compact clay. Moisture does not seem to rise by 
capillarity from the deeper layers below. 

The main lines of work at this station consist in varie.tal tests with 
grains, manner of cultivation, ploughing tests, seeding tests, effect of 
environment, sorghum smut experiments, nursery work with selected 
grains, and rotation of crops — in a word, the growing and adaptation of 
dry-land cereals to the Panhandle country. In the selection of grain the 
method is simple. A single head is selected, increased year by year for 
a period of three years. If after three years' test it gives promise of 



29 



success, it is then planted in the field, and finally distributed in small 
quantities free to the farmers. 

With regard to rotation experiments — nine three-year rotations and 
eleven four-year rotations are being carried on side by side with con- 
tinuous cropping experiments. Let us take a typical three and two four- 
year rotations — 

(a) Corn, oats, wheat. 

(b) Wheat, corn, oats, cowpeas. 

(c) Cowpeas, winter wheat, milo, oats. 

The summer fallow has been found to give from two to three bushels 
more per acre than where the land is cropped every year. To understand 
the practice let us take two plots, A and B. Plough both in the fall 
(autumn) and harrow both, that is, make a fine seed bed. Sow plot A 
with wheat. Leave B bare. Winter passes. Next spring A with young- 
wheat is harrowed. The bare fallow is also harrowed, not once, 
but several times, depending on the rainfall. Next on plot A 
the wheat is harvested about the 1st of July. Then both plots 
are disced, ploughed a little later, and finally both are planted 
with wheat. It will thus be seen that a whole year is wasted so far as 
plot B is concerned, and the increase is only from 2-3 bushels per acre 
over plot A according to the experiments at Amarillo. Mr. Ross does 
not believe in the summer fallow method for the Panhandle, and prefers 
rotation, or even continuous cropping, to the fallow system in a region 
where the rainfall comes during the summer or growing season. 

Soil moisture determinations are taken (a) under the ordinary methods 
of cultivation as practised by the average farmer ; (b) conservation 
methods as ought to be practised. Concerning crops, the following have 
given the best results : Turkey Red (winter wheat), Durum (spring- 
wheat, Red Algerian oats, Tennessee winter barley, black winter 
Emmer, and various sorghums. Paths of five links* divide each tenth 
acre plot, and paths of thirty links broad separate the acre lots. The 
experiments are kept in an orderly series, as, for example, all selection 
tests are kept together ; and all rotation experiments in another block. 
At the time of my visit the land was in very good tilth and showed 
evidence of having been thoroughly worked ; but the crops had suffered 
from drying winds and an unexpected frost. In respect to the equipment 
of the station, the ordinary agricultural implements were in use. This 
machinery was much worn and could hardly be called of the best or latest 
type. It was, however, housed in a shed. There was only one building 
on this station, namely, the office and seed store, a wooden building. 

The station sells all discarded or unselected grains. This is the only 
source of revenue, and amounts to about $100 per annum. This sum is 
utilised in the repair of fences and building in accordance with the con- 
tract. The Department buys and keeps in repair all machinery and 
agricultural implements, etc. 

Results. — So far the work at the Station has established the 
following : — 

I. That fall (autumn) ploughing gives better results than spring- 

ploughing. 

II. That deep ploughing gives better results than shallow 

ploughing. 

III. That the quicker the ground is ploughed after harvest the 
better. 



5 links = 



3-30 feet. 



30 



IV. That late winter seeding, that is November, is better than 

early winter seeding, that is September. 
Y. That thin seeding is better than heavy seeding for the dry 

Panhandle region. 

The New Station. — In company with Mr. Eoss, I drove out to the' 
new Dry-land Station which is being established two and a half miles 
from town. It has been acquired on a twenty years' lease. The owner 
gave the land free of charge for a period of twenty years at a merely 
nominal rent ; the Commercial Club of Amarillo raised $5,000 to erect 
buildings and fences, and the Government pays all other expenses such 
as salaries, labour, field tests, etc. At the end of twenty years the 
buildings and land revert to the owner ; the machinery and equipment 
belong to the Government. This farm consists of 120 acres ; the land 
has been laid off in acre plots and will then be cut up into tenth-acre 
plots with small plots between the smaller divisions, large paths separating 
the acre plots. A comfortable house is being erected for the superin- 
tendent and his family. 

Review. — The Dry-land Station at Amarillo is simple, inexpensive, 
and well suited to the purpose of testing drought-resistant cereals, rota- 
tions, and tillage. But in my opinion it is most unfortunate that the 
original land should have been acquired on so short a period as five 
years, and still more so that a new station should have also been acquired 
on merely a twenty year lease. In work of this kind the longer experi- 
ments are in progress on the same class of soil the more valuable they 
become. If the United States Government grants free homesteads to 
thousands of unskilled settlers, I fail to see why the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture with the Legislatures of the different States should not acquire a 
small portion of land former, even if it has to be abandoned at sumo 
future period. This method would give fixity of tenure and render the 
station independent of local land booming or local depression. 

Again, I am rather inclined to think that too many lines of work are 
being attempted. Six carefully chosen and persistently followed lines of 
investigation will ultimately give better results than a large range which 
cannot be properly looked after by one man. I was surprised to see no 
attempt had been made to plant trees, another reason for the avoidance of 
a short lease. Nevertheless, with these reservations, the work of the 
station cannot be too highly commended. 

The Dry-land Experiment Station at Dalhart is situated about four 
Lours from Amarillo, and is on much the same lines as at the latter 
place. This station is under the immediate control of the Department 
of Agriculture — Office of Dry-Ian cl Investigations — and is located upon a 
farm of 160 acres which the citizens of Dalhart donated to the Govern- 
ment on a ninety-nine year lea^e for the purpose of e tablishing and 
maintaining an Experiment Station. -They further contributed $4,000 
(£800) to the equipment of this station. The station is located on sandy 
land, and is representative of a large area of land in north-western Texas 
and Oklahoma. Experiments are in progress with winter wheat, winter 
i -ye. corn (maize), kaffir corn, and cowpeas. 

I left Amarillo at 11.55 p.m. on the Colorado and Southern Railroad, 
and reached Denver the next afternoon at 4.45 p.m. We traversed a 



31 



portion of New Mexico which is not unlike the Transvaal high veld, 
although much more broken and rugged. All along the route you see 
Mexican navvies who live in trucks and work for $1.25 per day. Close 1 
to the State line we reached the highest point, that is, Palmer Lake — 
7,224 feet above sea-level — and then descending slightly we passed , into 
Colorado where the glorious " Spanish Peaks " seemed waiting to bid us 
welcome to this wonderful land of sunshine, deserts, and snow. 

At Pueblo I was happy in again meeting Mr. Wilhelm K. 
Winterhalter, Consulting Agriculturist to the American Beet Sugar Com- 
pany, who was a delegate to the Dry-farming Congress at Cheyenne. I was 
specially interested to meet Mr. Winterhalter because he had been 
operating the Fowler double engine steam tackle for several years past 
in southern Colorado. He spoke in terms of the highest praise in regard 
to the Fowler system ; only he stated that he had just purchased a still 
more efficient and economical tackle made by a Breslau firm which works 
with superheated steam. Mr. Winterhalter kindly promised me 
a report on this new outfit within the next ye?r. Mr. Winterhalter 
is an interesting example of a German- America;!. Born in the 
■old world, after completing a college career, he migrated to America, 
and in order to gain a thorough insight into irrigation he worked as a 
day labourer in the ditches in California at 75 cents (3s.) per day 
for a period of three years. He then took a posf-graduate course 
in the University of California in chemistry and allied subjects under 
his distinguished fellow countryman — Professor Hilgard — who is also a 
German- American. With such a training it need not be wondered at 
that his rise was rapid, and to-day he is consulting agriculturist for six 
large sugar beet factories. Mr. Winterhalter's field of operations is at 
Bocky Ford in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado. Nine years ago there 
were only some 4,000 acres under sugar beets, now there are 65,000 in 
this region alone. Six factories have been established having a daily 
slicing capacity of 5,000 tons of sugar beets, which is equal to 1,500 tons 
of refined sugar. 

Mr. Winterhalter does not favour the growing of sugar beets on dry- 
lands, but he was much interested when I remarked that I believed 
that the Transvaal had a good future before it as a sugar-beet country. 
And he agreed that if the three essential factors (1) sunshine, (2) good 
deep loamy soil, and (3) water were present, there would be every likeli- 
hood of success in this enterprise in South Africa ; although t is doubtful 
if beet sugar will ever seriouslv compete with the cane-sugar inclustrv o:' 
Natal and Zululand. 



In Denver I had the pleasure of again meeting Mr. John T. Burns. 
Secretary to the Dry-farming Congress, and spent a most interesting and 
profitable time Avith him. Leaving Denver at 2.15 p.m., I journeyed to 
Akron which I reached at 5.30 the same day — a distance of ninety miles. 
This village is on the direct route of the Burlington Eailroad to Chicago 
where a hundred snow-capped peaks sentinel the surrounding plains. 
Next day along with Mr. John Cole, Field Assistant of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, who so kindly came out from Denver as 
my guide, I drove out to the Akron sub-station. This station is situated 
four miles from the village of Akron, which has a population of 500 
inhabitants. The Burlington Eailroad runs through the station. The 
station comprises an area of 67 acres — all of which has been ploughed — 



32 



and which was donated by Washington County to the National Govern- 
ment for experimental work. The citizens of Akron and other interested 
persons raised a sum of $3,000 (£600) for the erection of buildings on the 
station. The equipment and other necessaries were put up by the 
Department of Agriculture. The sum expended annually is roughly 
$0,000 (£1,200) including salaries, labour, new equipment, repairs, and 
improvements. 

The staff of the station consists of the superintendent, the specialist 
in grain investigations, a foreman, and two hired men at $50 (£10) per 
month without board. The Superintendent, Mr. J. E. Payne, was brought 
up on a farm in eastern Kansas, and graduated as Master of Science 
from the Kansas State Agricultural College. It was of interest to learn 
that Mrs. Payne was also a graduate of this institution, having taken the 
same degree as her husband. Besides the 67 acres above mentioned, an 
additional 160 acres, owned by the State of Colorado^ is being used con- 
jointly by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Plant 
Industry. It will thus be seen that this station holds its land in fee 
simple which, as I have already observed, is of the greatest importance in 
experimental work. 

Work was started on 21st June, 1907, when the prairie sod was first 
turned over. The average rainfall varies from fifteen to eighteen inches. No 
irrigation is possible, and it is in every sense of the word a dry-farm. 
The soil is a sandy loam with a sandy subsoil. Water has been struck 
at 90 feet on the station. The general plan of work comprises cereal 
work, breeding by selection, crop rotation, horticulture and forestry,, 
drought-resistant plants and forage crops adapted to the country, together 
with various meteorological studies, and work in soil physics. 

At present there have been erected a six-roomed dwelling, a barn,, 
seed house and laboratory, a blacksmith shop, and a machinery shed. I 
found the same implements here as at the Amarillo Station, with one or 
two extra, such as a John Deere sulky plough, with a harrow attachment, 
a Demster five-disc drill for seeding between corn-rows (maize-rows). This 
drill is widely used in western Kansas for seeding wheat between the 
rows in corn (maize) fields before the stalks are removed. 

Another implement worth noting is the lister. The practice of listing 
is very common in Kansas and Nebraska and other Western States. A 
lister is a double mould-board plough with the land sides set together. 
The seed is sown directly in the furrow made by this plough. 
I am now speaking of old land after the sod has been broken 
up. Consequently with a good team and one lister, a man can plough £nd 
plant nine acres per day ; whereas he could only plough two to three 
acres per day with an ordinary mould-board plough. Later, the ridges 
left by the lister are gradually levelled. Listing is of advantage in 
enabling the crop to root more deeply and so withstand the drought 
better. It is not practicable north of Nebraska, because the deep plant- 
ing results in too late harvests, which are apt to be frosted. No live stock 
are kept on this station except five work horses and some fowls. 

Revenue. — A little wheat and forage is sometimes sold ; but no 
revenue is expected. The period is too short to speak of results. The 
work so far was simply preparing the ground and getting read}' for 
experiments. However, it may be said that the Durum wheat 
(Beloturka and Kubanka) have given the best results, the Kherson and 
Sixty-day oats and Hull-less barleys. Of the sorghums, Early Amber. 
Minnesota Amber (black), and Red Amber have proved the main forage 



Senor Romulo Escobar, 

Mexico. 



Dr. Lawrence Baeta-Neves, 
Brazi 



W. H. Fairfield. Esq.. 

Dominion of Canada. 



Joseph A. Rosen, Esq.. 

Russia. 



\ ft • 



D. W. Warner, Esq., 

Province of Alberta. 



Dr. William Macdonald, 

Transvaal and British Colonial Office. 

Senator James H. McColl. 
Commonwealth of Australia. Chairman of Congress. 

Foreign Delegates at the Dry-Farming Congress 




Third Annual Dry-Farming Congress, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 



33 



and the best drought-resistant crops. The Kaffir corns are too late 
ripening for this locality. So far corn (maize) has not done well on 
account of the altitude (5,000 feet), cold nights in summer, and the 
drought. 

The station is well situated, and when trees are planted will have a 
pleasing aspect. In the State of Colorado the typical dry-land sections 
are to be found between the Platte and Arkansas Kiver, an area of about 
16,000,000 acres. Here the rainfall varies from 13 to 20 inches per 
annum. 

Leaving Akron, I returned to Denver by the 2.15 p.m. train, and 
left next morning for Utah. It would be a great convenience, both for 
the staff and visitors, if the Akron Station had telephonic communication 
with the railroad station — a distance of only four miles. 

During my visit the Mondell Bill came into force, which gives 320 
acres to each settler who resides for a period of five years in this part of 
the State, and the Land offices were crowded with eager applicants. There 
is but little doubt that this whole country will be rapidly developed by 
these settlers, who, for want of funds, have been unable to get a foothold 
in the wealthier sections of America. 



Through the Deserts of Utah. — I left Denver at 8 a.m., on the Denver 
and Eio Grande. It was a clear, crisp morning, and the journey all day 
was most enjoyable. Shortly after noon we reached Canon City and 
entered the Eoyal Gorge. It is indeed a worthy name for a mountain 
glen of such grandeur. The towering rocks which hung trembling in 
mid-air seemed ready at the merest touch to dash the train into the 
stream below. At Tennessee Pass we gained the highest point on the 
railroad — 10,240 feet above sea-level — and all day were in full view of 
the sublime snow-mantled peaks. Then descending we traversed the 
sage-brush deserts of Utah and passed through the glittering Watsatch 
mountains into the famous Salt Lake Valley. It Avould be hard indeed 
to find a more lovely farming region in the whole world. It was here 
that the Utah pioneers made first use of those waters which come from 
the eternal snows, and it is here that they have developed the science of 
irrigation to a high degree. Fat cattle, green alfalfa (lucerne) fields, 
blossoming orchards, well-tilled lands, and thrifty homesteads all testify 
to the agricultural prosperity of this region. 

I reached Salt Lake City about 1 p.m., and the same day sought out 
Professor Lewis A. Merrill, who, along with Dr. Widtsoe, has done so 
much to promote the arid-farm movement in Utah. Mr. Merrill is the 
editor of the Deseret* Farmer, manager of the Utah Arid-farm Company, 
superintendent of the State Experimental Arid-farms. Director of the 
State Farmers' Institutes, and formerly Professor of Agronomy in the 
State Agricultural College. It will thus be seen that he is a man of wide 
and varied activity. Mr. Merrill is a native of Utah, and a graduate of 
the Utah and the Iowa State Agricultural Colleges. 

In the pages of the Transvaal Agricultural Journal I have previously 
spoken of the splendid pioneering work in dry-farming which has been 
done by the people of Utah during the past twenty odd years : so at the 
present time I need only allude to the experimental work on the State 
farms. Six arid experimental farms have now been established on the 



* A Mormon word meaning little desert. 



34 



desert lands of Utah. Originally, these stations comprised only forty 
acres each, but of late the tendency has been to increase the acreage of 
one or two, notably Nephi. The combined State and Federal grant only 
amounts to the paltry sum of $12,500 (£2,500) per annum, and it is 
wonderful to reflect what a magnificent work has been accomplished in 
agricultural development by these stations for this small sum of money. 

In Utah the Durum variety of wheat has given very good results as 
a drought-resistant crop, but its cultivation has not been encouraged, as 
winter varieties, such as Turkey Eed, Gold Coin, and Kufoid, give larger 
yields. The desert vegetation mainly consists of sage-brush, grease wood, 
and rabbit-brush. Sage-brush is usually considered a sign of good dry- 
farming land, but both grease wood and rabbit-brush generally indicate 
an excessive amount of alkaline salts in the soil,- which prevents these 
lands from responding readily to tillage. I was surprised to find so few 
trees on the dry farms of this State, but, apparently, drought-resistant 
hardy types have not yet been developed. 

The usual method of reclaiming desert land is as follows : — The first 
operation consists in grubbing, viz., tearing out or cutting the sage-brush. 
The ground is then ploughed to a depth of six inches. The first plough- 
ing is done shallow in order to avoid turning under too much of the 
undecomposed brush. The relics of the sage-brush are raked together by 
means of a harrow, and the land is left idle until the fall (autumn) of the 
year. It is then harrowed several times with a disc and steel-tooth har- 
row, and made as far as possible into a good seed bed. In the month of 
October it is seeded to wheat at the rate of from 30 lbs. to 40 lbs. 
per acre. In the springtime the young grain is harrowed to conserve 
moisture, kill weeds, and break up any crust which may have formed on 
the surface. Immediately after the first harvest the land is again 
ploughed, but deeply this time — to a depth, if practicable, of ten inches, 
and it is then left in the rough furrow — to collect the snow and rain — 
until next spring, when it is harrowed several times with the steel tooth 
and disc harrow. That is, after each rain during the spring and summer, 
a light harrow is used, and so on until the seeding time in October. By 
this method of growing a crop one year and allowing the land to rest 
during the next, viz., summer fallowing, the Utah farmer obtains from 
twenty to thirty, and even forty, bushels of wheat year after year, without 
the use of manure,* and his whole object in this treatment of the soil 
is simply and solely the conservation of moisture from one season to the 
next. 

In order to visit the central part of the State I left Salt Lake City 
on the San Pedro, Los Angelos, and Salt Lake City Eailroad. I traversed 
the beautiful Salt Lake Valley, and, close to Provo, entered a second 
valley, the Utah Valley, which is famed for fruit-growing, sugar beet, and 
cattle raising. This is all under irrigation. I reached Nephi at about 
noon, and was most courteously welcomed by Mr. Grace, the Mayor of 
the town, Mr. Paxman, the President of the Juab Stake. f and Mr. Stephen 
Boswell, foreman of the State Experiment Station. " Show him a hos- 
pitality as broad as our valley," was the message telephoned by Professor 
Merrill, of Salt Lake City, to his fellow-churchmen of Nephi, and I was 
received with unbounded hospitality. These three gentlemen are the best 



* A similar method was practised in England by Jethro Tull (1674-1740). 
f The word " Stake' 1 means a district of the Mormon Church. 



35 



known dry-farmers in Juab County. Mr. Boswell was the first to file a 
homestead on the dry lands of this county twelve years ago. I arrived 
on a Fast Day/ and, although church services were in progress, I was 
driven out to the State Dry-farm. Another well-known citizen, Senator 
J. A. Hyde, also accompanied us. Previously, each of the six Govern- 
ment farms received practically the same sum, viz., an appropriation of 
$1,000 each. It was soon seen, however, that this sum was insufficient 
to do the work, and it is now thought best to concentrate more attention 
on one central farm, namely, Nephi, and so spend less money on the out- 
stations. It is also worth remembering that the college farm at Logan, 
in the northern part of the State, is a stock farm, and grain and feeding 
tests relative to the dry-farms are made there. 

Nephi is a picturesque town of 3,000 inhabitants, situated at the base 
of Mount Nebo (12,000 feet). The Dry-farm Experiment Station is 
situated six miles from town and lies alongside the railroad. It consists 
of 100 acres (40 being the original grant and 60 more having been lately 
added). This is enclosed in a woven wire rabbit-proof fence, costing $1 
per rod (16^ feet). The land of the farm belongs to Juab County. The 
main lines of experiment consist of various tests with dry-farm cereals 
and tillage methods for the conservation of moisture, besides experiments 
with forage crops. I was much struck with the excellent tilth of the soil 
and the results which have been gained by the use of moisture-saving 
fallows. All the grain looked particularly well, and was a wonderful ocular 
demonstration of the success of the methods adopted. The rainfall varies 
from fifteen to eighteen inches at the station, and comes mainly during 
the winter months and very early spring. Most work is being expended 
on wheat and lucerne, the two main crops of this section. The three 
wheats Avhich have given the best results here are the Kufoid,f Turkey 
Bed, and Gold Coin. The Kufoid is a native of Utah, and is the best 
drought and frost resisting wheat in the State ; but for five years out of 
six Turkey Red has out-yielded the Kufoid. The Turkey Eed has a 
smaller, harder berry than the Kufoid, and yields even a finer flour. The 
dry-land farmer of Nephi is never troubled with rust ; but it is not so 
on irrigated farms. Two years ago all the wheat under irrigation was 
ruined, and the irrigators, like the foolish virgins of the Holy Writ, had 
to purchase a fresh supply, not of oil, but of flour and seed wheat from 
the dry-farmers. Here it is a common belief that in the near future all 
the wheat of Utah will be raised on the dry-farms. Dry-land wheat sells 
at from 5 cents to 10 cents per bushel (60 lbs.) more than irrigated wheat. 
You get more flour and less bran from the dry-land wheat. In short, the 
dry-land farmers of Utah do not fear rust ; and they are convinced that 
the spread of rust is largely favoured by excessive moisture, a stagnant 
soil, heavy seeding, and lack of ventilation. 

Touching alfalfa (lucerne), forty-eight different strains were being 
tested, and all looking well. Of grasses, Bromus inermis has given the 
best result, and keeps green throughout the winter. The staff of the 
station consists of a superintendent, and a foreman and unskilled hired 
help. The State Government has appropriated $10,000 for two years for 
this dry-farm (the Legislature meets biennially). The National Govern- 



* On a certain day each month only one meal is taken, and the equivalent of the two 
forfeited meals is given to the poor of the Mormon Church. 

f Named after a Danish farmer, who found some grains of wheat in a prehistoric Mexican 
mound. The best bread I tasted in America was made from locally-grown Gold Coin wheat in 
Nephi. 



36 



nient co-operates in this work and supplies the superintendent with 
various scientific implements and new seeds. 

Concerning equipment, water for domestic purposes has to be hauled 
from town every day, a distance of six miles. The foreman lives in town ; 
but he camps on the station ground during the busy season. The super- 
intendent likewise resides in Nephi. There is an office and laboratory, 
a machine shed, and outhouse on the station. A sage-brush grubber was 
the only unfamiliar implement to me. Mr. Boswell favours a press-shoe- 
drill over the disc-drill, as it presses down the seed better. The best 
harvests have been obtained with 45 lbs. of seed wheat put 
into the ground about three inches deep. There is only a small revenue, 
namely, about $200, from the sale of the grain. There are no wind-breaks 
about the station. Trees have not been successful, and even the hardy 
locust tree succumbs to the drought. 



Leaving iNephi I travelled back to Logan, in the north. The agri- 
cultural valley which stretches from Salt Lake City through Ogden to 
Logan, and which has been developed both by dry-farming and irriga- 
tion, is one of unrivalled beauty. Here you see the great irrigation works 
of the Bear River, watering 150,000 acres, most of which is laid down 
to sugar beets. It is interesting to learn that the sugar beets of Utah 
give the highest sugar content of any State in the Union. As I said 
before, wheat is now grown only on dry-lands, whereas sugar beets are 
grown entirely under water. That evening I called on Dr. John A. 
Widtsoe, President of the State Agricultural College, and author of " The 
Arid-farm Bill of Utah." Dr. Widtsoe was born on the Island of Froyen, 
off the coast of Norway, in the year 1872. Coming out to the United 
States in 1883, he entered the Brigham Young College, Utah, and later 
graduated from Harvard, Gottengen, and Zurich. In 1900 he was elected 
Director of the Utah Experiment Station and Professor of Chemistry in 
the Agricultural College at Logan, and seven years later was appointed 
to his present post. Mr. Widtsoe is a member of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter Day Saints — Mormon Church — and is married to a grand- 
daughter of Brigham Young. 

In Utah, Dr. Widtsoe was the first to publicly advocate the reclama- 
tion of the deserts by the scientific study of the soil, so he may well be 
termed the father of the modern dry-farming movement in this State. 
His gospel of dry-farming may be tersely stated as follows : — 

(1) Plough deep. 

(2) Plough in the fall (autumn) ; there is no need for spring 
ploughing. 

(3) Cultivate the soil in early spring, and as far as possible, after 
every rain. 

(4) Grow crops that are drought-resistant. 

(5) To make dry-farming successful among practical men, stick to 

a few staple crops, such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, and 
lucerne, and when these are established go on to others. 
In his discussion with me on dry-farming, Dr. Widtsoe said : " In 
Utah it has been demonstrated, beyond all doubt, that dry-farming is 
possible where there is a rainfall of twelve inches per annum and where 
the soils are of moderate fertility. It is sometimes said, 'Why fallow? ' 
Out here, onr conclusion is that the rest afforded by the fallow,' combined 



with the customary tillage, results in the release of plant food. If we 
were to preach any other doctrine but that of the moisture-saving fallow 
on the deep fertile soils of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Arizona, it would 
mean that our farmers would be ruined. In short, the summer fallow 
stores up moisture and liberates plant food, making it possible for the 
crop to develop to the fullest extent with a limited supply of moisture. 
There is, therefore, a double reason for the summer fallow. Ultimately, 
there will come a time that we must apply plant food in some direct 
form, such as by green manuring ; but the soils of Utah, by the methods 
just mentioned, have been producing large yields for the past quarter 
of a century, and are still far from being exhausted. In my opinion, 
commercial or artificial fertilisers will never be practicable on our large 
•dry-farms, and we must resort to natural or barnyard manures." 



In the Cache Valley* — Next day, accompanied by Professor 
Hogenson, I drove through the famous Cache Valley, the most renowned 
dry-farming region in America. The winter wheat — Gold Coin — was 
about six inches high, and was in excellent condition. What rather sur- 
prised me was the number of cattle that were grazing over these wheat 
lands. Mr. Hogenson said that this was the common custom in this part of 
Utah. It tended to make the grain stool out, manured the fields, gave 
the animals green feed, and did not materially injure the land, except 
to compact it if there was too much tramping. The cattle are put on 
just after the ground is hard enough in the spring-time, and are kept on 
for about six weeks. It was also most interesting to see everywhere 
examples of the summer fallow method ; that is to say, you could see 
ihe vivid green of a field of 100 acres side by side with the) bare 
brown fallow of another field of the same size. We stopped at the farm 
of Mr. G. L. Farrell, who came to this region in the year 1869. Here I 
saw a field which had been forty years under wheat, without any rotation, 
without any manure, and is to-day yielding as much as ever, viz., 
-35 bushels to the acre. This field is summer fallowed every second year, 
as it is the usual custom in Utah. The soil is a deep clay loam with here 
and there patches of alkali. This farmer has 200 acres under 
wheat ; the soil mulch was one inch thick, and the seed bed moist and 
.mellow. The Cache Valley is fifty miles long by twelve miles broad, and 
consists of a deep alluvial clay loam. The native vegetation consists 
.mainly of sage-brush, rabbit-brush, shad-scale, and grease wood. The last 
two desert plants indicate the presence of alkali, and consequently these 
lands are usually avoided in the selection of a dry-farm. I was informed 
that a certain Mr. Ecklund, a Swedish farmer, following the methods 
.advocated by the College authorities, is now raising 60 bushels of wheat 
per acre. 

Fall or autumn ploughing is the common custom in dry-farming in 
Utah .The reasons given for this practice are as follows : — It allows the 
.Tain and the snow to collect in the rough furrows during the winter-time. 
It permits the weathering of the soil. It creates a natural reservoir for 
the storage of water. It tends to make the land mellow. It liberates 
plant food. 



* The Valley of the Hidden Treasure. So called because the pioneer explorers hid their 
treasure in this valley. They never found it, but their children discovered that the valley 
was one of the most fertile in the whole of America. 



38 



In this valley the only special implements which I noticed were 
a lucerne renovator and a Henderson smoothing disc harrow. The 
renovator is used for cleaning lucerne fields, and is useful in splitting the 
crown of the plant and so making the crops stool oat better. The smooth- 
ing disc is a useful implement for making a fine mulch. The Superior 
drill is widely used. 

In the further part of the Cache Valley the wheat was looking even 
better, and mile after mile of green fields mixed and mingled with the 
fallow lands. Last season the wheat crop was heavy, and averaged 45- 
bushels per acre over the whole valley. Rotation has not been practised 
in this region. I was much struck with the cleanness of the wheat fields., 
and, with the exception of bunches of volunteer wheat from the previous 
season, few or no weeds could be seen. The dry-farmer in the Cache 
Valley is therefore in a happy position of being largely free from weeds 
and rusts. .1 was much interested in, and have never seen before, so much 
d^-land lucerne. It is sown at the rate of 8 lbs. per acre, and with, 
this thin seeding there is a tendency for it to grow in clumps ; thus, in 
looking over a field of dry-land lucerne, it seems to be growing in isolated 
bunches. Later, however, these clumps stool out, and tne whole field 
becomes a vivid luxuriant green. Should it become weedy the disc harrow 
or lucerne renovator is run over it, and that is all the treatment it ever 
gets. The dry-farmer of the Cache Valley does not believe much in the 
practice of green manuring, because, should he wish to renovate his soil^ 
he would prefer to feed his stock on these wheat lands, and obtain natural 
manure, because it decomposes more readily than the green manure- 
Besides, the capillary rise of moisture is not broken, as sometimes happens 
where an undecomposed mass of matter is left in the soil. Furthermore.. 
the dry-farmer here does not believe in the Campbell method of sub- 
surface packing. Campbell states that the ploughed stubble should be 
packed, but in Utah it has been found that fail ploughing produces a 
sufficient degree of packing. And the land, by the spring-time, is nice 
and mellow, the stubble having largely decomposed. Some native grasses, 
such as bunch grass, blue grass, and wheat grass, are regarded as indi- 
cators of good dry-land. Here in the Cache Valley dry-farming^ Jias never 
been a mere theory, but an actual fact, and, what is more important, a. 
most profitable practice for the last forty years. 

The Dry-farms of Montana. — After bidding Professor Hogenson 
good-bye, I left for Butte, Montana, that same afternoon. Traversing the 
State of Idaho I arrived at Butte — 400 miles to the north — the following 
morning. Butte is the most important town in Montana, but on a raw., 
cold morning, it certainly looked a forbidding mining camp. It was now- 
time to begin my long eastward journey, and I reached Bozeman, Mon- 
tana, at 1.35 p.m. the same day. Here the- State Agricultural College is 
located, while the State University is situated at Missoula. In passing I 
may remark that this seems to me another unfortunate example of the 
divorcing of the Agricultural College from the State University. This 
is also seen in Kansas, Colorado, and Utah.* 

The Agricultural College of Montana is finely situated, with a back- 
ground of majestic snow-capped mountains. Over 500 students 



* Examples of the benefit of union of State College with State University are to be- 
strikingly seen in the ease of the three greatest agricultural colleges in America, viz.. Cornell., 
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 



39 



•are in attendance, and the campus consists of half a section — 
320 • acres of land. I was cordially welcomed by Dr. J. M. 
Hamilton, President of the College, Mr. F. B. Lindfield, Director of the 
Experiment Station, and Mr. A. Atkinson, the Professor of Agronomy. 
The average rainfall for the whole State of Montana is sixteen inches per 
annum, and it comes mainly during the months of April, May, and June 
(spring and early summer). The soil varies from five to forty feet in 
depth, and is chiefly a sandy loam underlaid with gravel. The dry- 
farmer of Montana, in seeking for a sign, believes that, generally speaking, 
where the buffalo grass and the blue joint thrive there is good land, but 
where he finds cacti the soil is apt to be shallow and dry. The great 
benefit derived from the summer fallow in Montana is believed to be not 
so much from the conservation of soil moisture as to the increase in the 
fertility of the soil by reason of the release of plant food and the activity 
•of the nitrifying bacteria. Two days before I reached Bozeman there had 
been a heavy fall of snow, but at the time of my arrival it was rapidly 
melting away, although, as the Canadians quaintly put it, " I carried my 
homestead on my feet" all day. 

Montana is the third largest State in the Union — Texas and California 
being bigger — and has an area of 147,000 square miles, or 93,000,000 
acres. Of this amount 36,000,000 approximately are level enough to 
farm, the remainder being mountainous or broken land. Five years ago 
the outlook was very dismal ; the stock ranges had been over-grazed, and 
the cattle and sheep men were selling out. They supposed that their 
lands were quite worthless ; and the railroads were glad to sell their 
lands at 50 cents per acre. The credit of being the first to advocate the 
utilisation of the level range for grain raising belongs to Senator Paris 
•Gibson, of Great Falls. His faith has been amply justified, and the extra- 
ordinary development of this State within the last three years can be 
traced entirely to the dry-farming movement. Settlers are pouring in 
to take up farms on the dry-lands, and instead of 50 cents per acre land is 
now selling at $5 to $10 per acre. Professor Lindfield, now Director of 
the State Experiment Farm, had seen the magnificent results of dry-farm- 
ing in Utah, and on coming to Montana advocated making a start in this 
-direction, while his colleague, Professor Atkinson, began an active cam- 
paign on his arrival some two years ago. It is of interest to know that 
both these gentlemen are graduates of the Ontario Agricultural College 
in Canada. 



The first dry-farm investigations in the State were started in 1905. 
The Federal Government contributed $2,000, the Northern Pacific Kail- 
road Company $2,000, and the State of Montana $500. Next year the 
Federal Government ceased to contribute, and these experiments were 
continued with the sum of $2,500 from the Northern Pacific, $500 from 
the State, and $2,000 from the Great Northern. On 1st March, 1909, the 
appropriation was as follows : — The State gave $16,250, the Northern 
Pacific Railroad $5,000, the Great Northern Railroad $2,000, and the 
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad $2,000, the Federal Govern- 
ment $2,500, making a total of $27,750 for aid in dry-farming. Now, it 
is a most interesting fact to note the cordial co-operation of the railroad 
.systems with the State Agricultural College. It benefits both parties. 



40 



The Northern Pacific* has $8,000,0.00 worth of land to sell. When they- 
built their railroad they got a grant from the National Government of 
every odd section for forty miles on each side of the railway clear across 
the State. The other two railroad companies did not get an acre of land, 
and their co-operation with the State Experiment Station in this matter 
is simply to increase their freight and passenger business. The money 
given by the railroad companies is employed to hire men, buy equipment,, 
and pay the travelling expenses of the agricultural experts. It is not 
permitted to be used for administrative work, or the publication of 
bulletins or reports. 

The following dry-farms have already been established : — (1)* 
Glendive, (2) Terry, (3) Forsythe, (4) Billings, (5) Lewiston, (6) Great 
Falls, (7) Chester, (8) Harlem, (9) Round-up, (10) Baker. These are 
cheap stations, consisting for the most part of forty acres each, divided' 
into one-acre plots. The staple crops are tested as well as different 
methods of cultivation. The college possesses two small threshing outfits,, 
which are shipped around the State. These stations are well advertised,, 
and the farmers are brought together. In regard to the staff, it may be 
said that the foreman gets $600 (£120) for his work during the summer, 
and nothing for winter, viz., from April to September. He has to furnish 
horses and ordinary farm machinery, and is permitted to work on his 
own homestead. 

These dry-farms are planted in places to attract settlers ; for example- 
the Forsythe Station was started in the spring of 1906. The first, 
settlers came in two , years later, and this year all the land has been 
taken up. Settlers are now coming very rapidly, and the policy in the 
future will be to endeavour by encouragement and advice to make those 
colonists stay. The cost of these dry-farms on an average is about: 
$2,000 per annum for a forty-acre station. The dry-farm at Harlem is 
twenty-five miles from the railroad, where as yet there is not a single 
homestead in the whole district. Here the superintendent receives 
$1,000 for six months in order to induce him to remain in that unsettled 
country. The largest State dry-farm is 160 acres, of which 80 acres are^ 
laid out in plots. In Montana it is usual to sow half-acre plots rather 
than one-tenth acre, so as to appeal more to the farmer. The Lewiston 
Station is twenty- two miles west of that town on . the Great Northern 
Railroad. Here the staff consists of a superintendent, a plant breeder, and' 
two workmen. This station costs annually $4,500, of which the State- 
gives $2,000 and the Federal Government '$2,500. 

In Montana eighteen officials are actively engaged in the dry-land' 
propaganda. This number includes two professors, three assistant pro- 
fessors, two superintendents, and eleven farm foremen. Each of 
the smaller type of dry-farm station possesses simply ordinary 
farm machinery and a team of horses, whereas the larger stations have- 
each a soil laboratory, a full set of meteorological apparatus, a seed house, 
a house for the superintendent, also one for the workmen. Regarding 
machinery, the sub-surface packer has been used on the dry-farms of 
Montana, but it is considered an unnecessary implement in this State 
and too hard on horses for the amount of work which it does. The 
ordinary disc harrow is used both for surface pulverising and sub-surface 
packing. The Superior press drill and the lucerne renovator are tools^ 



* I was told on good authority that Northern Pacific lands have increased in value to 
the extent of $10,000,000 during t he past five years owing tb the rise and progress of dry- 
farming. 



41 



■.which have been used with marked success. In this State I was told that 
■$6V2 might be taken as the cost per acre of producing wheat on an average 
> dry-farm. This sum would include ploughing, harrowing, and harvesting. 

During my journey through the West, I made enquiries in regard 
to steam cultivation, and on several occasions saw traction ploughing. In 
.Montana, Professor Atkinson, whom I interviewed on this matter, said : — 
In regard to steam cultivation w r e advertised for breaking up and double- 
'discing two sections — 1,200 acres — and the bids ranged from $1% to $8 
per acre with ordinary ploughmen and teams. We then decided to buy 
.a traction gasoline outfit : Hart-Parr engine (Charles City, Iowa), 22 
horse-power, costing $2,250 cash ; and an Emerson 14-disc plough 
(Emerson Company, Springfield, Illinois), costing $450, and a tank at $75 ; 
including freight the total cost of this outfit ivas $3,054. We broke and 
disced 900 acres at a cost of $2. 16 cents per acre, and we are now doing 
it for under $2 per acre. This machine is giving entire satisfaction. We 
ploughed four and five inches deep, but later we intend to buy mould- 
board ploughs and go down six and seven inches. This type of traction 
engine moves over the ground at the rate of two miles per hour and does 
twenty acres per day, and burns sixty gallons of gasoline daily. The tank 
•is filled once a day and costs 22 cents per gallon. The gasoline is delivered 
at the farm once a week. We could not afford to use coal as it is too far 
to haul, but we believe there is a great future for the gasoline traction 
.engine on the dry-farms of Montana." 



I left Bozeman on the Union Pacific at 7.20 p.m. and arrived at 
ilforsythe, Montana, at 3 a.m. Next morning Mr. J. B. Nelson, 
Superintendent of the State Dry-farms, very kindly accompanied me. 
We drove out to the Forsythe Station, which is situated six miles from 
the railway. The soil is a good loam, two to five feet in depth, resting on a 
.clay subsoil. This farm consists of forty acres, which is held on a five years' 
lease. The land belongs to a neighbouring farmer, who, in consideration 
>of taking charge of the farm, receives a grant of $75 per month from the 
railroad company, and in addition he obtained his own section of land — 
640 acres — from this company at a greatly reduced rate, that is $2._50 per 
.acre. This farmer carries out the instructions * given him by the State 
Superintendent of Farms. At the time of my visit the experiments in 
progress were principally connected with tillage, such as methods of 
fallow for the conservation of moisture, the growing of drought-resisting 
•cereals, and a determination of rates of seeding. The aim is rather to 
concentrate on a "few main points of dry-farm practice than to dissipate 
over too many — in a word, to be able to tell the farmer, as soon as 
possible, one or two things of practical value to him. At this station, 
the land was in good tilth, but the wheat was backward owing to the 
inclement spring. As yet, no trees have been planted, and there is only 
one small building on the place — that is a soil laboratory. 

I examined a steam-ploughing outfit — direct traction — near by, 
which was engaged in breaking up five sections of land (5 x 640 — 3,200 
acres). It seemed to be giving great satisfaction. The engine — 22 horse- 
power — was drawing twenty-two disc ploughs, which were cutting from 
three to five inches deep. I saw 600 acres of fall wheat on land 
which had been broken up by this outfit, and it was doing nicely. After 
ploughing the land is disced, harrowed, and levelled, and then seeded. 
"The engineer in charge — a bright young felloe — seemed to know his 



42 



business. He informed me that there had been no breakdown since lie- 
started in the spring-time. 

Across the Prairies of North Dakota. — At 11 o'clock I left on the 
Union Pacific for Dickinson, North Dakota, which I reached the same- 
evening at 8 p.m. Close to Medora, in North Dakota, we entered the 
famous Pyramid Park, or the region of the Bad Lands. Not far away, 
in the valley of the Little Missouri River is the ranch upon which ex- 
President Roosevelt lived for a number of years. Next morning, Mr. 0. G. 
Grace, Superintendent of the Dickinson Experiment Station, kindly drove 
me out to the farm. The weather was bitterly cold, and I confess I longed 
for a mid-summer day in Pretoria. Even at this late date, 14th May, 
a large number of people were wearing buffalo robes. In fact, Mr. Grace 
informed me that the Russian settlers, of whom there are a large number 
in this locality, wear fur coats more or less all through the year, which 
indicates the rigorous nature of this climate. Four dry-farming stations 
have already been established in North Dakota, namely at (a) Dickinson,. 
(6) Edgeley, (c) Williston, (d) Fargo. 

The station at Dickinson is within two miles of the city limits — 
a regulation as to distance having been inserted by the legislature. There 
are 160 acres on this station. The ground was given by the people of" 
the town and the surrounding county. The annual appropriation from 
the State Government is $5,000, and this is expended in salaries, running 
expenses, and wages. The Federal Government simply assists in the 
matter of experts. The staff consists of the superintendent and two or 
three hired men. This station is co-operating with the United States 
Department of Agriculture, which furnishes two experts, one of whom 
has charge of the dry-land work, and the other plant breeding. There is 
a handsome eight-roomed house for the superintendent, a commodious 
barn, and machinery shed. The revenue from the sale of seed grain- 
amounts to $400 per annum. The average rainfall at Dickinson is sixteen 
inches per annum. This station has been in operation for a period of 
four years. The work may be summed up as follows : — The summer fallow- 
has been given a thorough test and it has been found that an intertilled 
crop, such as corn (maize), gives as good a result. Canadian field peas 
and sweet clover have proved of special value for green manuring. 
Experiments are going on in grain investigation, variety tests, rate of 
seeding, and crop rotation. There is also considerable work in connection 
with lucerne. Tests are being made with trees for this part of the prairie, 
such as different varieties of pines, cottonwood, and box-elder. In regard 
to wheat, the fife and blue stem varieties, the well-known hard spring 
wheats, are mainly grown, but Durum wheat is being grown more and 
more. No winter wheat is sold, as the climate is too severe. It is of 
interest to note that North Dakota, at the present moment, is in a 
transition state, that is, it is passing from ranching to small farming. 
The Hereford, Shorthorn, and Aberdeen Angus, the Merino and 
Shropshire are the prominent breeds of cattle and sheep respectively in 
this section. In the neighbourhood of Dickinson I saw more steam- 
traction and gasoline engines for ploughing than I had seen anywhere else 
during my tour, and I was informed that a very large percentage of the- 
prairie land of West and North Dakota will be broken up and seeded to- 
wheat by these engines this coming season. 

The' following notes may therefore be of interest : — All sorts of traction > 
engines are used for ploughing. However, those intended for both, 



43 



ploughing and threshing are made stronger in the traction gearing and 
.also in the boiler, and cost about $450 more than the ordinary traction 
threshing engine. In North Dakota the fuel used is lignite and costs from 
$2 to $3 per ton, depending on the distance from the mine. A 25 horse- 
power engine will use about four tons per day. Such an engine, equipped 
for ploughing, costs about $2,000, while the ploughs, say, six 14-inch, cost 
from $125 to $600, depending on the quality. Such an engine will 
.average from 13 to 14 acres per day, ploughing three to five inches deep. 
Four men are usually employed on this outfit ; the engineers receiving 
$3.50 to $4.50 per day, the other men from $1.25 to $1.50. The usual 
price charged for breaking up virgin prairie is $3.50 per acre, or $4.35 
for ploughing, discing, and seeding. The daily expense for such an 
engine may be put down at $20 — a sum which would cover the cost of 
fuel and wages of the men. These ploughing outfits are only used for a 
period of five or six months and they usually are expected to turn over 
about 1,500 acres in the season. Steam power is not used nearly 
so extensively in the eastern part of the State, as the land has 
.more stone on it, and also more swampy spots, which would greatly inter- 
fere with the use of an engine.* I left Dickinson at 11.5 a.m. and 
reached Minneapolis next morning at 8.50 a.m. 

On Friday, 28th May, I left Minneapolis by the 10.20 p.m. train on 
the North-western Eailway and arrived next morning at Madison, where 
the University of Wisconsin is located, which lies 120 miles to 
the west of Chicago. After studying the wonderful agricultural 
extension work of this splendid institution I journeyed to Moline, 
Illinois. Moline is a pretty town on the banks of the Mississippi Eiver, 
situated 170 miles to the south-west of Chicago. It is purely a manufac- 
turing town of some 25,000 inhabitants. In connection with dry-farming, 
I had always wished to see the making of ploughs in a modern factory, 
and I spent a most interesting and instructive forenoon in the workshops 
of the John Deere Company, the largest steel plough factory in the world. 
The President of the Company, Mr. William Butterworth, received me 
most courteously, and detailed his technical manager to show me the 
factory. The magnitude of the operations and the labour-saving devices filled 
one with amazement. The machines are almost human in their marvellous 
ingenuity. Each part of the plough is made separately by the thousand, 
^and then all are welded or bolted together, as the case may be. The care 
taken in polishing and smoothing the share so as to get a perfect adjust- 
ment is truly wonderful. After the plough is put together it is hung up 
to the ceiling and travels around the building on an iron rail, never 
touching the ground until it is sold. It is painted in three seconds and 
varnished with the same lightning speed — a clutch is released and two 
ploughs at a time are dropped into a paint tank and swung up to dry. 
'The pounding each steel part receives by the huge electric hammers is 
simply terrific and makes jou wonder how a plough could ever break. 
Besides an enormous trade in ploughs this company has also made ai 
speciality of corn planters and disc harrows, and I saw hundreds of these 
implements in the process of manufacture. Here, too, I was interested 



* The following are some of the firms manufacturing steam engines used for ploughing: — 
Avery Manufacturing Company. Peoria, Illinois ; J. I. Case Company, Racine. Wisconsin ; 
Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company ; Hopkins, Minnesota ; and Reeves & Company, 
■ Columbus, Indiana. 



to note a new machine — mealie planter — which is being made to suit 
South African conditions, with a special device for sowing Hickory King 
maize. I was struck with the intelligent and contented appearance of 
the men, mostly Swedes, who were working with great rapidity. There 
was no loafing, and I was informed that they are paid by piece-work 
and earn on an average $2.50 per day. Xo trade union men are admitted 
to this factory. 

From Chicago I took the train on the New York Central, and twenty- 
four hours later, sharp on time, sp>ed into the Grand Central Depot, in 
the heart of the great metropolis. The whole of the Hudson Valley was 
wrapped in a glorious green, and even the shimmering waters seemed 
touched with the magic of spring. I sailed from New York on the- 
Lasitania, of the Cunard line, on 9th June, and arrived in Liverpool, 15th. 
June, having made the passage in five days two hours and five minutes,, 
and sailing from Southampton on the Kinfauns Castle. 26th June,. 
reached Pretoria on the 15th of Julv. 



CONCLUSION. 

In a journey covering over 11,000 miles throughout the different sec- 
tions of America, I have been afforded an exceptional opportunity of study- 
ing every phase of dry-farming, and of meeting all sorts and conditions of 
persons actively engaged, either directly or indirectly, in this work — 
western farmers, departmental officials, experiment station experts, land 
agents, and business men ; and my investigations lead me to the following 
conclusion : — Dry-farming has proved to be a profitable practice, and h as- 
taken a firm hold on the American people. The proof of this statement 
will at once be evident from a consideration of five great movements i 
(a) The Annual Dry-farming Congress ; (b) the Drv-fand Experiment 
Stations established by the National Department of Agriculture ; (c) the- 
State dry-farms in the West ; (d) the recent remarkable development of 
dry-farming in the whole semi-arid region of "Western America ; and 
lastly (e) the action of the Federal Government in passing the Mondell 
Homestead Bill, which is specially designed for the dry-farmer. In a; 
word, dry-farming is destined, in the immediate future, to play a far 
more important role in agricultural development than even the great art 
of irrigation. This being so, it is almost superfluous to urge the necessity- 
of its application to the Transvaal, and of a systematic study of the 
special problems involved, without further delay. In view of what I have 
recently seen in America, I respectfully submit the following recommenda- 
tions : — 

I. That a Dry-farming Division be at once established in the- 
Department of Agriculture to foster and to promote this new 
branch of agricultural science, comprising the following staff r 

(a) Dry-land Agronomist — having a special knowledge of the 
science and practice of dry-farming, combined with a wide, 
knowledge of agriculture. 

(b) Assistant in Soil Physics — having special qualifications 
in physics and chemistry and a general knowledge of agricul- 
ture. 

(c) Assistant in Soil Bacteriology — having a special knowledge 
of bacteriology applied to soils, combined with a sound 
scientific training. 



45 



(d) Assistant in Plant Breeding*— having a special knowledge 
of plant physiology combined with a knowledge of agricul- 
tural botany. 

(e) A Superintendent and foremen for the Dry-land Stations 
which may from time to time be established. 

II. That five Dry-farmsf— Dry-land Experiment Stations— be 

established for the study of problems relating to tillage, the 
conservation of moisture and the cultivation of drought- 
resistant plants. Preference should be given to the driest 
regions of the Transvaal. In the beginning, these stations 
should be dry-farms in the strict sense of the word — not stock 
farms — in order that they may not be unduly expensive. 

III. That extension work be begun amongst the farmers to arouse 
their interest and to help them in this matter. This can best 
be done by dry-land publications, lectures, and practical 
demonstrations on Government Dry-farms. 

IV. That a Dry-farming Congress J be called together once a year 
to discuss this subject. 

V. That the Government purchase or acquire a steam or gasoline 

direct traction engine for the use of the Division of Dry- 
farming. It is essential that farmers and prospective settlers, 
and agricultural societies, be supplied with reliable data 
regarding the cost per acre of producing crops on dry-land 
by means of power engines. No reliable statistics exist 
relative to this matter. Such an engine might be employed 
in ploughing up Government land. 

VI. That a Dry-land Station be attached to every community of 
settlers which may hereafter be established on the dry-lands 
of the Transvaal, and that the foreman of this Station be 
instructed to give advice and assistance to the settlers. 

I submit these recommendations to the earnest consideration of the 
Government and the people of the Transvaal in the confident belief that 
the money necessary for the carrying out of this work will be amply repaid 
by increased harvests and the general agricultural prosperity of our 
Colony. 



* To avoid duplication of effort, the Division of Botany would doubtless co-operate in 
supplying this official. 

f This cannot be called a large number when it is remembered that a mining state, such 
as Montana, with a population of 300,000, has already established eleven dry-land stations. 

X I would suggest that this Congress be called together by the Et. Hon. the Minister of 
Agriculture, and that invitations be extended to all the Colonies of South Africa, the Dominions 
of the Empire, and the United States. 



46 

ITINERARY IN AMERICA. 

Distance Travelled. 

New York to Washington, D.C 226 miles. 

Washington to Chicago (Illinois) S88 M 

Chicago to Omaha (Nebraska) 496 „ 

Omaha to Cheyenne (Wyoming) 516 „ 

Cheyenne to Omaha 516 v 

Omaha to Minneapolis (Minnesota) 381 „ 

Minneapolis to Chicago 421 „ 

Chicago to New York 960 „ 

New York to Washington . . . . 226 „ 

Washington to Chicago 888- „ 

Chicago to Minneapolis 421 „ 

Minneapolis to Kansas City (Missouri) . . . . 560 

Kansas City to Amarillo (Texas) 586 „ 

Amarillo to Denver 469 „ 

Denver to Provo (Utah) v 697 

Provo to Nephi (Utah) 41 „ 

Nephi to Salt Lake City (Utah) 88 „ 

Salt Lake City to Cache Junction (Utah) .... 49 

Cache Junction to Logan (Utah) 16 

Logan to Cache Junction 16 

Cache Junction to Butte (Montana) 348 

Butte to Minneapolis 1,118 „ 

Minneapolis to Chicago 421 „ 

Chicago to Moline (Illinois) 179 „ 

Moline to Chicago 179 

Chicago to New York 960 „ 



Total 



11,666 miles by rail. 



4:7 



APPENDIX I. 



WHAT IS DRY -FARMING ? 



By William Macdojstald, Sc.D., Dry-land Agronomist. 



It is rather surprising that although much has been written about dry- 
farming during the past few years no clear explanation has yet been 
given of this term and, consequently, a good deal of mystery still exists 
as to the nature and scope of this type of farming. At the outset it may 
be said that dry-farming differs very little from the ordinary farm practice 
which has been followed by the best and most successful farmers in all 
parts of the world since time immemorial, save that special stress is laid 
upon the conservation of soil-moisture and the growth of drought-resistant 
crops. But although the principles of dry-farming have been known and 
practised for many centuries, it is only lately that it has aroused a wide- 
spread interest amongst all sections of the agricultural community. It is 
sometimes supposed that the success of dry-farming depends upon a 
particular sort of soil. This "is not so. For in the United States dry- 
farming has proved profitable on the deep clay loams of Utah, on the 
shallow sandy soils of the Panhandle of Texas, as well as on the heavy 
gumbo soils of the Missouri Valley. Of course, on deep rich loams larger 
yields will naturally be expected. Again, some farmers seem to think 
that this new practice depends on the possession of special agricultural 
machines. But this is not the case ; the four essential implements being 
the plough, harrow, cultivator, and drill. Naturally, with more machinery, 
and especially harrows, the farmer will be better able to pulverise the 
soil and secure a good seed bed, which is most important. The only new 
implement specially devised for dry-farming is the " Packer." But this 
is not essential and a disc harrow will do instead. It will thus be seen 
that the equipment for dry-farming is well within the means of the 
majority of farmers. 

The term dry-farming originated in Western America, and may be 
defined as the conservation of soil moisture during long 'periods of dry 
weather by means of tillage, together with the growth of drought-resistant plmts. 
It is not, of course, farming without moisture, for that would be plainly 
impossible. The phrase is now widely and loosely applied to farming in 
all places where the normal rainfall ranges from 10 to 25 inches per 
annum. In the words of the American Dry-farming Congress dry-farming 
is farming where " irrigation i$ impracticable or impossible." In selecting 
land for dry-farming the most important point is the depth of the soil. 
This can easily be found out by digging pits five to ten feet in depth, or 
by looking at cuttings, wells, and embankments. In a new country it is 
well to take careful note of the growth and root system of native trees, 
shrubs, grasses, pod-bearing plants, etc. In South Africa mimosa trees 
and antheaps are usually safe guides to a good deep soil. The reason why 
a field of deep uniform soil generally produces a far better crop than a 
shallow soil is that it is possible to store a much larger amount of water 
in the former, and, further, the soil moisture rises much more freely 
from great depths to the root system of the growing crop. Given a good 
soil, therefore, the dry-farmer has simply to prepare his ground to receive 
all the rain which falls upon it, and, secondly, to prevent the loss of soil 
water through evaporation. 



48 



in dry-land farming the most important problem is naturally the 
amount and distribution of the rainfall. The rain falling in the course 
of a year is usually measured in the form of inches. This amount ranges 
all the way from nothing or a mere fraction of an inch, as in the Andes 
and the great African and Asian deserts, to as much as 600 inches, or 50 
feet, at Cherapundji, in Eastern India. In studying a rainfall map of 
the world, it will be seen that a large portion of the earth's surface is 
arid. This term is commonly meant to imply an annual average of less 
than 20 inches. The arid region thus denned would include, in the 
United States, most of thejcountry lying west of a line drawn through 
North Dakota and Texas, extending north-west into Canada and south- 
wards into Mexico ; while in South Africa it would be found in the 
Kalahari Desert, the Karoo, and some portions of the Transvaal. 

Dr. Briggs, of the National Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
was the first to call attention to the enormous importance of evaporation 
in relation to dry-farming. And this is a matter of equal, if not greater, 
importance to the South African farmer in our land of hot suns, bare veld, 
and dry, sweeping winds. To watch a terrific thunderstorm, to see rivers 
of water pouring over the land, and a few hours later to walk over perfectly 
dry ground is a phenomenon familiar to every farmer. This appalling 
waste is mainly due to hard impenetrable soil ; in a word, to surface run 
off, and, secondly, to the sucking power of a summer sun. 

Evaporation, therefore, is a factor which should not be ignored in 
passing judgment on the agricultural productiveness of any region. By 
the term evaporation is meant the number of inches of water which 
vaporises or evaporates from a clean water surface in a freely exposed 
open tank during a given period. Thus the annual evaporation is the 
total number of inches of water which evaporates during the year, just 
as the precipitation is measured by the total number of inches of water 
falling into a tank, as rain, sleet, or snow during the year. 

Evaporation depends upon the temperature of the evaporating surface, 
the dryness of the air, and the velocity of the wind. The hotter the day, 
the greater the evaporation ; the drier the day, the greater the evapora- 
tion ; the harder the wind blows, the greater the evaporation — a ceaseless 
sucking up of moisture. The amount of evaporation from an open tank 
of water is thus a measure of the evaporation of that locality A series 
oi evaporation determinations has been made recently by the United 
States Department of Agriculture at various points throughout the West 
during the months of spring and summer. These tests were made by 
means of a freely exposed tank set in the soil, and some remarkable results 
were obtained. At North Dakota, with a summer rainfall of 13 inches, 
the evaporation from the tank was 30 inches, and at Amarillo, Texas, during 
the same period, with a summer rainfall of 13 inches, the evaporation was 
54 inches. Summarising these experiments, Briggs says : u In other words, 
with the same rainfall in North Dakota and at Amarillo during the growing 
season, the man at Amarillo would be working under conditions which are 
practically twice as severe as those in. North Dakota," The prospective 
dry-land farmer must therefore realise that the annual rainfall is not the 
only factor to be considered in selecting his homestead, since the greater 
the evaporation in any given locality, the harder will it be for him to 
conserve enough moisture to produce his crops. 

How then can moisture be conserved ? The answer is : by deep 
ploughing, constant cultivation, and the prevention of evaporation. 
Ploughing is the most important operation in dry-farming, and upon it 
will mainly depend the success or failure of the crop. The dry-land 



49 



tfarmer often asks, " How deep should I plough ? " and again " What is 
•deep ploughing ? " Usually deep ploughing means anything from seven 
to ten inches and over. In dry-farming deep ploughing is strongly to be 
recommended for several reasons ; it increases the water-holding capacity 
of the soil, admits sunlight and air, extends the root feeding area, prevents 
Jight land from being blown away, encourages the growth of soil bacteria, 
prevents surface washing after heavy rains, and, lastly, enables plants to 
successfully withstand long periods of drought. Broadly speaking, a soil 
that is best suited to dry-farming is also one that may be ploughed deeply, 
but the best results have so far been obtained on deep uniform sandy 
-loams. 

Now, let us suppose that we have stored practically the whole of 
the last heavy downpour in our deep mellow ploughecL lands. How can 
it be kept within 'the soil for the use of the crop ? The reply is : with 
the harrow and cultivator. The moment the ground is dry enough to be 
worked, go over it with a harrow when the field is bare or with a 
-cultivator if in crop. Oftentimes, a growing crop may be harrowed with 
great advantage, as for example, wheat or maize while the plants are still 
young and flexible. The result of stirring the soil in this manner is to 
iorm a soil-mulch which very effectively prevents loss of water, that is, 
evaporation from the surface of the soil. Any material which is spread 
upon the soil to shade the surface from the sun, and so check evaporation, 
is termed a mulch. A soiLmulch is therefore merely a soil-mantle. In 
^gardening operations, leaves, manure, coarse hay, straw, and grass are 
commonly used. Such mulches are very effective — even more so than a 
mulch of fine earth — but they hinder the continual stirring of the land, 
which allows the air and sunlight to penetrate into the soil and set free 
plant food. Accordingly, the most useful and practical mulch in dry- 
farming is that which is made of loose dry soil. This brings us to the 
moisture-saving fallow. Formerly, the fallow was meant to designate a 
piece of land left without a crop for a year or may be more. It was 
allowed to " weather." This unfilled land often became hard and baked, 
and weeds of every sort grew merrily upon it. Now weeds are the 
robbers, not only of plant food, but also of moisture, and a hard soil means 
that the rain cannot penetrate, while the loss of soil moisture through 
evaporation is very great. But in dry-farming the conservation of 
moisture is the all important problem, and this led to the adoption of 
moisture-saving fallows, deeply ploughed in the first instance, and con- 
stantly stirred thereafter to prevent the formation of a soil crust. These 
« well tilled weedless lands will retain the rain for an indefinite period and 
so insure the dry-farmer of a sufficient supply of moisture for his future 
crops. Thus, side by side with his growing crops, the dry-farmer should 
lay off moisture-fallows which may be maintained for periods of three 
months, six months, or one year. The tilling of these fallows results in 
four things : — (a) Storage of rainfall ; (&) destruction of weeds ; (c) 
admission of sunshine and air ; (d) encouragement of beneficial soil 
germs. 

This practice is not new. More than a century ago a clergyman 
<(the Eev. Mr. Smith) at Lois Weedon in Northamptonshire, England, 
started a system of alternate bare-fallowing and wheat cropping which 
he carried on for over thirty years with perfect success, raising the yield 
of wheat from sixteen bushels to thirty-four. His plan was simple. The 
land was laid off in narrow strips, each alternate one was summer- 
fallowed, and the others cropped with wheat — changing about each year. 
In short, only half of each field was in wheat, the other half in fallow, 



50 



yet the total yield was heavier than the average yield of the neighbourhoods 
in this rotation of wheat and bare-fallow* the ground was frequently and 
deeply stirred. This system is practically the same as that advocated by 
Campbell, and so successfully practised by the dry-farmer of Utah, and 
which I earnestly hope will be widely adopted throughout the Transvaal. 

Two arguments are sometimes urged against the use of moisture- 
saving fallows. Firstly, that the increased crop does not pay for the 
trouble involved in tilling the land so frequently, and, secondly, that 
constant cultivation is apt to exhaust the soil of its nitrogen content as 
has happened notably in the orchards of California. The first objection 
usually comes from the farmer, the second from the agricultural chemist. 
This is therefore one of these matters which each individual must deter- 
mine for himself ; but the writer does not hesitate to state in the strongest 
terms that since the conservation of moisture is the alpha and omega of 
dry-farming, the use of the moisture-saving fallow is absolutely essential 
lor the best results. Moreover, a soil might be full of plant food, but 
without sufficient moisture it would be useless for all practical purposes. 
Again, there are few soils in South Africa that will not yield their hundred 
fold if supplied with sufficient moisture. But perhaps the chief argument 
in support of tne moisture fallow is that it teaches, as nothing else can, the 
value of good tillage and the inherent fertility of land properly treated. 
The most fatal error in modern farming is the careless preparation of the 
ground. Poor shallow ploughing and the lack of after-cultivation of the 
soil are the two factors to which crop failure is largely due. It i& 
impossible for any plant to withstand a severe drought when its roots lie 
in hard, dry soil. But put the same seed in deep, mellow earth, with a 
moisture-saving mantle, and it remains green after weeks of rainless 
weather. In the past the great mistake in South African agriculture has 
been over-irrigation, with little or no cultivation, and the soil soon becomes- 
stagnant with a surplus supply of water. Sunshine and air are excluded, 
the fertility of the land impaired, and the root system of the crop often 
permanently injured. When farmers realise that most crops can be- 
successfully grown on dry-lands merely with good cultivation, they will 
hesitate before embarking upon expensive irrigation schemes and will 
seriously study the problem of better tillage. 

Turn now for a moment to the question of fertility. It is not hard 
to repair an exhausted soil by means of green manures or better still by 
the natural manure of the farm (kraal manure). The reason why the 
addition of humus (i.e. vegetable or animal matter) to any soil is so 
valuable in dry-farming is that land well supplied with this constituent 
more readily absorbs and retains moisture than that which lacks nitro- 
genous matter — the so-called vegetable mould. In America the most 
successful dry-land farmers are those who are engaged in mixed farming — 
that is, growing grain and raising stock at the same time. When crops 
are fed to stock on the farm, and the manure and refuse, such as maize 
stalks, returned to the land, the loss of soil fertility is comparatively 
small. The feeding of cattle, sheep, and pigs on the dry-farm will bring 
in to the energetic farmer ready money, while the manure will help to 
improve his soils and sustain his crops in seasons of drought. But the 
dry-farmer should never lose sight of the fact that the problem of moisture 
is far more important than the question of fertility. 

A word now in regard to drought-resistant crops. These can be- 
obtained by selection, by breeding, ,and by exploration. The most notable 

[u place of the old term bare fallow the writer prefers to speak of '•moisture-saving'" 
or " moist uro-fallows." 



.31 



•example of the last-mentioned method is to be found in the recent intro- 
duction of the Durum wheats into the United States from the semi-arid 
regions of Russia. These wheats have done very well on the dry-lands 
of the West, and last year's harvest yielded over sixty million bushels. 
Another matter of importance is thin seeding. Most farmers sow far too 
much seed, forgetful of the fact that every superfluous plant is robbing 
the land of moisture. It is plain that thick seeding, such as ninety pounds 
per acre, will call for three times the amount of water as thin sowing of, 
say, thirty pounds. Moreover, where the seed is too thickly sown all the 
moisture is liable to be used up near the surface, with the result that the 
tender plants are burned up before they have had time to send their root- 
lets into the deeper earth. Further, few varieties. In the Transvaal the dry- 
farmer grows too many different sorts of grain. A vigorous effort should 
therefore be made to eliminate as, quickly as possible all inferior types 
and to concentrate upon one or two. The dominant dry-land winter 
wheat of Western America is Turkey Red, while the Durum varieties are 
the dominant spring types for dry-lands. So it behoves the farmers 
throughout South Africa to agree upon a few dominant types, to keep 
them pure, to plant only selected seed, and thereby establish a high grade 
uniform standard for both maize and wheat. Finally, it may be said that 
success in dry-farming will depend mainly on six factors : — (1) Deep 
ploughing ; (2) thin seeding ; (3) frequent harrowing ; (4) weedless 
lands ; (5) few varieties ; (6) moisture-saving fallows. 



APPENDIX II. 



DEY-F ARMING IN WYOMING. 



By Dr. V. T. Cooke, State Director of Dry-farming Experiments- 

in Wyoming. 



The dry-farming system recommended for Wyoming is that which has 
been practised in the arid portions of the West Coast States for more 
than a generation, with such modifications as are adapted to our different 
conditions of soil, climate, and rainfall.* It consists in holding two 
years* moisture for one big crop. There are quite a number who mis- 
understand when we speak of getting a crop every other year. It is 
true we only get a crop off the same land every other year, or under 
favourable conditions, say two years out of three, but we must recollect 
that we get crops by this method when the seasons are dryer than usual 
and that we get one big crop with one ploughing, one seeding, several 
cultivations, practically two years' moisture, and one harvesting. The- 
farmer simply divides his land into two portions, on one-half raising 
crops, the other half being summer fallowed. By this method, which is 
easily understood and carried out, the farmer has a long season instead 
of a short one, and drives his work instead of being driven by it. 

i 

Ploughing. 

The ploughing must be deep. The plan recommended in this State- 
is to plough old ground eight or nine inches deep. It is always better 
to plough in the fall (autumn), where possible, in order that the ground 
may absorb the winter's moisture, the sod become decomposed, and the- 
soil sufficiently compacted, so that a good seed bed can be formed for 
spring planting. 

Harrowing. 

All spring and summer ploughing should be thoroughly harrowed 
the same day it is ploughed. It takes just as much time to harrow the 
ploughed ground to-day as it does to-morrow or next day, other things 
being equal, but it makes much difference in the. conservation of the 
moisture when harrowing is done. If possible harrow (and drill as well) 
diagonally or at right angles to the way in which the prevailing winds 
blow. The object in doing this is to prevent the land from drifting or 
blowing ; to hold the snow which falls on the ploughed ground or winter 
grain, and to prevent the particles of soil or snow from injuring the young 
grain in the drill furrows by being carried along these furrows b& the 
wind. Others have strongly recommended that those who are summer 
fallowing their ground should get on to- it with the drag harrow 
immediately after any rain or snow. This is not always necessar}^ but 
what we must do is to get on to the ground as soon as it is dry enough 
after every heavy rain or big snow. This harrowing must not be deferred' 
too long, because if we wait the surface of our soil will become very dry 
and is more liable to drift when we cultivate. The farmer must use his 
judgment, and get on to the ground as early as conditions are favourable 
to doing good work. 



* The average rainfall of Wyoming for a period of thirty-four years is 13-58 inches per 
annum, most of which conies during the summer season. 



53 



Maintaining the Soil Mulch. 

The soil mulch is one of the most important factors in our success- 
as dry-farmers. It is by the soil mulch that we are able to conserve 
the moisture, prevent its loss by evaporation and absorbing all that comes 
to the soil by precipitation or from dews or other moisture in the air. 
The summer-fallowed ground should be in a granular form of small 
lumps, but care should be taken not to get it too fine. The object of 
cultivating the summer-fallowed soil is to prevent the formation of a 
crust ; to allow the proper action of the sun and air ; to break up the 
capillaries and prevent the moisture rising to the surface and evaporating,, 
and to intercept the growth of weeds. The moisture in the soil goes up 
and down by capillary movement, and we keep our soil cultivated to 
break the upper connection and to prevent this loss of moisture. 

Sowing the Crop. 

Winter grain should be sown early, say not later than the end of 
August or beginning of September. This will give the grain a good 
start and it will be in better condition to stand the winter. Spring 
grain should be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be put in 
good condition and danger of hard freezing of the soil is past. It has 
become a recognised fact that we have been in the habit of making the 
very serious mistake of sowing too much seed per acre. The experience- 
of the most intelligent and up-to-date farmers shows that by sowing 
thirty to forty pounds of wheat per acre in the fall, better results will be 
obtained than with more seed. One of the advantages of sowing a mini- 
mum amount of good seed on summer-fallowed ground and sowing 
it early in the fall is, that we make a long season of a short one, and, 
other things being equal, the earlier the grain is sown the greater is its 
chance of s tooling. For the same reason we should sow a larger pro- 
portion of seed when we are late with the work iii the spring. If the 
season is well advanced and the ground moist and warm, the grain starts 
and grows so rapidly that it does not take time to stool. Another thing 
of vital importance in any kind of farming is to see that the seeds are 
planted properly, and, in the opinion of the writer, there is no greater 
mistake made than to practise broad-casting, either by hand or by a 
machine. When broad-casted the ground is harrowed or cultivated 
unevenly — some of it is too deep, some of it is not deep enough — and 
no doubt many failures are due to this method of sowing. The press 
drill is one of the essential implements for the dry-farmer. It puts the 
grain in in proper shape and to the right depth, pressing the soil around! 
the seed, which insures moisture to cause it to germinate, and there is 
much satisfaction in knowing that our work is done properly. We gain,, 
in this way, a week or ten days by putting the grain into moist ground" 
at a uniform depth. There is a large saving of seed also, and, where we 
are farming extensively, this is quite an important item, especially when 
we consider what first-class seed costs. The man who sows alfalfa 
(lucerne) broadcast generally puts in from twenty to forty pounds of seed 
per acre, when if he uses a press drill, ten to twelve pounds of seed will 
be sufficient, either under irrigation or dry-farm practice. 

Seed to Use. 

There is no greater mistake made, and one for which there is 110- 
excuse, by the man who wants results (and that is what we are all after) 
than to use any but the best seed obtainable. Like produces like. Be 



•sure and use those seeds that are raised without irrigation if it is possible 
to obtain them. It is most important to get seed which is thoroughly 

■clean, free from weed seeds, and all other impurities. The cost of such 
seeds is of very little importance compared with the results which the 

•best is sure to give. 

Cultivating. 

Under this system of farming a soil mulch must be maintained, 
□lot only on the fallow ground, where frequent harrowings will be all 
that is necessary, but also on the land which is raising the crop. In the 
spring thoroughly harrow your winter grain (or use a weeder), and 
remember that to do this properly the narrow teeth must be 
sharp. Harrow teeth like the top of a broom handle cannot do 
effective work. There are a large number of farmers who are actually 
.afraid of harrowing their grain for fear of tearing out too much. We 
can only say, try it. The man who once harrows with a good team and 
sharp harrow teeth will not only have no cause to regret it, but will see 
that it is always done in the future. I wish to emphasize the importance 
of cultivating growing cereals with the harrow. Alfalfa (lucerne) and 
•grass meadows should be thoroughly disced. After the second year there 
.is little or no danger of injuring alfalfa with the disc, even though the 
.surface soil is pulverized into a comparatively good seed-bed. Because 
lucerne permanently occupies the land, discing and harrowing is the only 
method by which the soil moisture can be properly saved, and this is one 
of the secrets of success in this kind of farming. Potatoes, corn (maize), 
and other rowed crops should be harrowed up to the time they get too 
large, and after that shallow level culture should be followed until the 
-crop is laid by. 

Harvesting. 

Of course the harvest may be carried on by ordinary methods, but 
the soil should not be neglected at this time. Where our rainfall comes 
during the summer, discing the stubble after harvesting grain is 
important. After harvesting potatoes or sugar beets the drag harrow 
should be used to break up the lumps and re-establish the soil mulch. 
Barley or other grains that can be used for feed without threshing should 
be harvested when in the stiff dough. This prevents, in a measure, re- 
seeding the ground through the grain shattering out, for in this country 
all the ripe grain which drops on the ground in the fall comes up the 
next spring as a volunteer crop. If the grain can be fed without thresh- 
ing it is marketed in the best possible way from the farm and saves the 
cost of threshing and handling. 

Crops to Eaise. 

Those crops which are grown in rows and only occupy a part of the 
ground, like potatoes and corn (maize), where the season is long enough, 
will mature with the least use of moisture. Among our small grains the 
•drought-resistant sorts are very important. Macaroni or Durum wheat is 
one of the best. Polish wheat is a drought-resistant sort and is good 
Mhere it is to be used for stock feed. Spelt or emmer is a most excellent 
stock food and one of the best drought-resistant sorts. Barley, either 
the bald or hulless or the beardless brewing barley, for feed, is a short 
season crop which will mature with a minimum amount of moisture. 
Oats do well in all parts of Wyoming, the earlier varieties being best 
where moisture is scarce. Lucerne will succeed, and it is important to 



DO 



get seed which is raised in the north where the seasons are short and iw 
the arid country without irrigation. Where the season is long and warm, 
the sorghums make good crops. Brome grass is one of the best drought- 
resistant crops for pasture purposes, but it quickly gets sod-bound and it 
must be harrowed or disced to keep it producing well. White sweet 
clover is being tested by the Experiment Station and developed by one 
of our plant breeders to so improve it that it will become a valuable crop- 
for dry-farming and an important feed with grain for use in fattening 
stock, especially lambs. French clover or sainfoin is a hardy drought- 
resisting clover at high altitudes. The winter grains are especially 
favourable for dry-farming, because the summer-fallow method properly 
prepares the ground for such seed and the spring rains are sufficient to 
mature the crop. Winter rye is one of the most successful dry-farm, 
crops. Eye is not appreciated as it should be, for it is one of the best, 
feeds for hogs that can be produced. 

Mixed Farming. 

The best paying dry-farms will be those in which a system of 
cropping and feeding stock is combined. Where the crops are fed to 
stock at the farm there is practically no loss of fertility. Manure 
is an important item to be added to arid soils as it increases their humus, 
making them more retentive of moisture as well as richer in plant food- 
As has been suggested also, where grains are raised for stock feed they 
may be cut early and fed in the bundle, which avoids the extra work of 
threshing and hauling to market. There are most excellent or portunities 
in Wyoming on account of our market facilities and favourable climate 
for finishing lambs or old sheep, cattle, and swine, principally hogs of the 
bacon type, and such system of farming will be sure to bring the largest 
profit. 

Size of Farm. 

One man with a small amount of extra help should be able to farm 
at least 160 acres by the summer-fallow method. This depends on his 
knowing how to take advantage of conditions and on having the proper- 
equipment. Four-horse tools pay. A man or boy with lour gocd horses and: 
a three-section harrow can harrow thirty to thirty-five acres per day. 
Using twice the power, by having plenty of horses and double size 
machinery, enables one man to do two men's work, which is the most- 
economical method. 

Equipment Needed. 

Dry-farming does not require any special or new equipment. There* 
are some things which are absolutely essential, however, if the dry-farmer 
is to make his business profitable. He should have four or six horses, a 
three-section drag harrow, a 12 or 14 inch gang plough, and a disc harrow.. 
An Acme harrow is a valuable instrument for maintaining the soil mulch.. 
The farmer will also need one or two good cultivators and, if he has a 
farm large enough to pay, he will require his own harvesting machinery. 
It is sometimes most economical for several farmers to club together 
and buy one harvesting machine rather than for each to have his own. 
The press drill is one of the essentials. This may be either of the shoe 
or the disc type. The disc drill has some advantages where there is 
much stubble or refuse, like coarse manure on the ground, but on well 
prepared summer-fallow ground the shoe drill with press wheels following 
to firmly pack the seed probably does the best work. There are places 
where there are heavy clay soils to contend with that a double press; 



56 



wheel should be used instead of the single press wheel ordinarily placed 
on these drills. If the soil bakes the double press wheel will leave a 
crack or opening in the centre directly over the seed through 
which the germinating plantlets can push their way out of the 
ground. It is not necessary here to go into details of the farm 
buildings and fences required, for they are something to be worked 
out according to the capital and tastes of each individual farmer. 
The point I would make in speaking of necessary equipment is that 
it does not require any new or complicated or expensive machinery to 
do successful dry-farming under the best methods." 



APPENDIX IIP 



DRY-FARMING IN MONTANA. 



"The following is a summary of the results of dry-farming in Montana 
as given in Bulletin No. 74 of the Montana Agricultural College and 
Experiment Station : — 

(1) That dry-farming may be carried on in many sections of 
Montana and will return reasonable profits on the money and 
effort invested. This means that much of the great level 
area of the State, which will never be irrigated, may be made 
to support comfortable homes and pay returns to the State 
sufficient to place the " dry-lands " amongst the State's valued 
resources ; 

(2) that Turkey Red fall wheat has been the highest yielder 
of all crops grown. Fall (autumn) sown crops yield better 
on the average than spring sown crops, so we believe that 
fall wheat and fall rye will have a prominent place amongst 
the crops grown on the most successfully managed dry- 
farms ; 

(3) that while the experimental results have not been carried far 
enough to indicate positive conclusions, yet we feel safe in 
advocating the use of from three to five pecks (45 to 75 lbs.) 
of seed per acre with the different grains rather than a larger 
amount ; 

(4) that growing grain each alternate year, with a properly 
cultivated summer fallow between, will bring decidedly more 
profitable returns than growing grain every vear on the same 
field ; 

(5) that it is important to keep the summer fallow cultivated 
during' the season in order to keep down weeds and volunteer 
grain and maintain a soil mulch for the accumulation of 

moisture. 

Continuous Cropping versus Alternate Cropping and Fallow. 

The table presented herewith shows the average results from grain 
grown continuously on the same land and from grain grown on land that 



5 1 



had been summer-fallowed the year previous so as to keep down weeds 
and maintain a moisture conserving mulch. In the matter of ploughing 
and fall and early spring cultivation, both areas were handled in the 
same manner. 



Crops Grown continuously on same Land versus Crops Grown 
after Land has been Fallowed. 

Ace rage Result* for all Years Tested. 





Kubanka 
Spring Wheat. 


AVI 
Hulless 


rite 

Barley. 


Sixty Day Oats. 


Sab-station. 




c 




- > 








% 1 

■ p = 




i 1 

c g 
























• C 


< 


c 








Dawson County 


15-18 


17-57 


15-97 


20-90 


3,-n 


51-00 


Bosebud County ... 


16-98 


20 -So 


15-02 


28-31 


30-21 


40-03 


Yellowstone County ... 


7-78 


19-32 


14-90 


20-33 


13-75 


17-94 


Chouteau County ... I 


14-18 


17-85 


13-29 


11-95 


28-90 


34- 56 


I 

Average ... ... 


13-52 


18-76 


14-79 


20-37 


26-01 


43-38 



In humid sections serious objection is offered to the practice of 
summer-fallowing because of the loss of plant food by the leaching which 
occurs. In areas of light rainfall this objection does not apply, and 
until some crop rotation system is worked out, which includes the use 
of inter-tilled crops at the proper time, we believe that the summer- 
fallow will claim a place on many well managed dry-farms. The results 
given in the table show a much higher yield of 'the crops after the 
summer-fallow than for those grown continuously. _ A review of the 
tables given in the reports of the sub-stations shows that the yield on 
land continuously cropped is decreasing rapidly as the seasons advance.. 
This suggests that after cropping has been continued over a longer 
period the yields will come to be very much less than, half as large as 
those produced from land summer-fallowed the previous season. In 
connection with these tests, moisture and nitrate determinations were 
made throughout the season to find out, if possible, just why yields after 
a fallow should be so much higher than yields from land' cropped the 
year previous. From accumulated data, yet unpublished, we find that 
there is upwards of three times as much moisture present in the first 
seven feet of a fallowed field as there is in a field on which a crop has- 
been grown during the season. Again, nitrate determinations reveal 
the presence of a much higher percentage of nitrogen in the nitrate form 
in a fallowed soil than in a cropped area. This is because of the greater 
nitrate-forming activity made possible by the presence of sufficient 
moisture to make favourable conditions for the nitrate-forming 
organisms. These two conditions then — higher moisture content and 
more nitrogen in an available state — readily account for the high yields- 
after the summer-fallow. 



58 



Cultivated versus Uncultivated Fallow. 

Since the object in summer-fallowing the land each alternate year 
is to provide for increased yields the succeeding season, it is important 
that we adopt the proper methods in connection with the management 
<of the fallow in order that the full benefits may be gained. During 
1907 two pieces of like fallow were set aside and used for the purpose 
of determining the advantages of cultivating a fallow at the proper time 
during the season as compared with leaving it wholly without cultivation. 
In the spring of 1908, spring wheat was planted on the two plots. The 
harvested yields showed that the grain on the plot which has been 
cultivated as fallow produced three and one-half bushels per acre more 
than the grain on the uncultivated plot. We believe that the average 
•difference will be greater than this reported for this year when the tests 
have been carried over a long period of years. However, the difference 
in the yield reported is sufficient to more than compensate for the cost 
of fallow cultivation and indicates the wisdom of caring for the fallow 
in such a way that the weeds are kept down and moisture accumulated. 



APPENDIX IV. 



METHODS OF DKY-FAKMING- IN UTAH. 



The following is an extract from an address delivered by Professor Lewis 
.A. Merrill at the Trans-Missouri Dry-farming Congress held at Salt Lake 
City, 22nd to 25th January, 1908. After dealing with the amount of 
water required by crops, Professor Merrill said : — 

" I want to object to the idea that has been advanced in this con- 
gress that we need to rotate our crops. If we grow a crop of corn (maize) 
on the land alternating with wheat, it simply means that that corn 
is going to take so much moisture out of the land. I want to say that 
the Utah method of fallowing the land, the practice of summer-fallowing, 
is not a question of fertility of soil, but simply a question of conservation 
of moisture. The great problem in Utah in relation to arid farming is 
the best way of conservating the moisture we have. That is our 
problem. It is not a question of the fertility of the soil. "We know, 
for instance, over the State, that crops have been produced for forty to 
fifty years in succession without any diminution in the yield at all. But 
the simple problem is this, how can we best grow crops with the amount 
of moisture we have,* and I say that the only practice that can be 
followed successfully is the practice of summer-fallowing the land. In 
some parts of the State it may be best for the ground to be 
summer-fallowed only once in two years, and in other parts once in 
three years. In most parts of the State it is best to summer-fallow every 
other year. The arid farmer cannot succeed on the same amount of land 
used by the irrigating farmer, even if his crops were as large, because he 
requires double the amount of land because of the fact that half of the 
land must lie idle every year. It has been demonstrated time 
and again that a yield of 33 bushels of wheat can be produced 
on land fallowed every other year, but where it was continuously 
-cropped the yield was cut down to 12, or 13, or 14 bushels, 

* The average rainfall over the whole State of Utah is 12 inches. 



59 



and we were doing double the amount of work required to produce' 
12 or 13 bushels as was required to produce 33 bushels. So it has been 
demonstrated that our summer-fallowing is a matter of preserving the- 
moisture. 

" Further, it has been shown we can go for months without any 
rainfall at all, if we have the moisture stored in the soil. There are 
places in this State where they have been storing and conserving the 
moisture for ten and twenty years keeping it stored up in the soil, and 
then when the plant is put in the soil there is sufficient moisture to 
carry it through, whether they get any rain or not. That is the idea we- 
are trying to follow in dry-farming in Utah. We believe in deep ploughing 
because we want this moisture to spread down around each one of the 
soil grains. When Bishop Farrell and Mr. Salisbury first started their 
experiments in Cache Valley, many years ago, they both had the same 
experience. They went out and sowed the same amount of seed on their 
land as they had been accustomed to sowing on irrigated land, a bushel 
and a half (90 lbs.) and two bushels and a half (150 lbs.), and as a 
consequence there wasn't sufficient moisture in the ground to nourish 
the plants. The plants came up, and there not being sufficient moisture 
in the ground to carry them through they wilted and died. And Mr. 
Salisbury said that his failures during the first three or four years were- 
simply because he had not learnt the great lesson of simply putting 
sufficient seed on the land for the amount of moisture present to carry 
it through. So now it has come that in Utah we are advocating seeding 
with a small amount of seed. We don't lay down any set rules. 
We say about two pecks (30 lbs.) to four pecks of seed ought to be used. 
Now with reference to tilling our crops, we believe in constant cultiva- 
tion. In the winter time, after the wheat is up, it is absolutely essential 
to harrow the wheat, two, three, four, or five times, in order to break up- 
and destroy the crust so that the water will not come to the surface and 
evaporate. We believe in ploughing, harrowing, discing, and in doing 
anything and everything on the dry-farm to keep the rain stored up* 
in the soil for the use of the plant." 



The following is an extract from a speech made by Mr. George L. 
Farrell, a practical farmer, at the Cheyenne Dry-farming Congress : — 

"I began farming in Cache Valley in 1864, farming in the same- 
manner I did in the region I came from. I failed miserably for two> 
years. I always hated to be overcome, and I determined to either win 
out or ' go broke.' I had been ploughing 3 to 4 inches, but I tried 
ploughing down to 8 and more inches. I also sowed less than half the 
grain I had been sowing. The result was that I had something to- 
harvest. I took encouragement, and, the following year, seeded 110 
acres of deep, well ploughed land to wheat, using but 30 to 35 lbs. of 
seed per acre. I harvested exactly 40 bushels and 8 lbs. per acre. I 
found that by seeding on a better prepared seed bed, with less seed, I 
had larger heads and more rows of wheat kernels per head. 

Thin" Seeding. 

" When we sow grain too thick on dry-farms it comes up so thick that 
it draws the substance and moisture out of the ground, until there is not 
enough moisture to support it and the grain fails to fill out — does not: 



60 



mature. One year, 1 hired a Dane to seed my rye — 100 acres. I requiied 
him to seed exactly one-half bushel (SO lbs.) per acre. He felt I made 
a very great mistake, for ' back home/ in Denmark, they seed 3 bushels 
(180 lbs.) per acre. He seeded 5 acres on his home farm, using 15 
bushels of rye to seed it. I harvested 27 bushels per acre over my entire 
held * the Dane harvested 20 bushels from his 5 acres, only 5 bushels 
more than he seeded, one kernel of my rye would make twelve kernels of 
his rye. 

" Our plan of cropping has always been to summer-fallow one year 
and crop the next. If possible, I plough in the fall (autumn) ; as a 
general thing we cut our grain stubble as high as possible, say 2 feet. 
When we turn that under, there is plant food to help the next crop. 

" When the fall and spring rains come on well prepared ground, they 
go deep down. The next spring as soon as it is dry enough to work, we 
put our discs on the summer-fallow and work over the top ; this con- 
serves the moisture in the ground below and we continue to work that 
ground all summer to keep down the weeds. We keep the summer- 
fallow as clean as possible. Just before the seeding time, we thoroughly 
level the seed bed with the leveller. Every three years we find it wise 
to sub-soil 6 inches deeper than we plough. Do not throw the sub-soil 
dire out, simply leave it loose in the furrow. By stinging climate, seed, 
and soil conditions, no earnest worker need fail at dij-f arming in Utah."' 



Method of Summer-fallowing. 

As soon as the crop is removed 'in the autumn, the land should be 
ploughed deep, from 8 to 10 inches. This land is then left rough 
(unharrowed) so that the natural unevenness of the soil will catch and 
retain the snow during the winter. In the spring time, as soon as the 
ground becomes sufficiently dry so that the soil will not cling to the disc, 
the disc harrow should be put on the soil and the land harrowed both 
ways. If there is any vegetation growing at this time, lapping the disc 
harrow half will generally remove all growth. In case the vegetation is 
thick, and it is impossible to cut it out with the disc harrow, it may be 
advisable to plough very shallow. 

The value of this summer-fallow lies largely in the method pursued 
by which the moisture is conserved. It is essential therefore that the 
ground shall be kept entirely free from all growth. Weeds take moisture 
from the soil to as great and sometimes even greater extent than do 
ordinary crops, and the land might just as well be made to produce a crop 
of some economic importance. After each rainstorm it is essential that 
the ground be harrowed in order that an earth mulch be maintained to 
prevent the escape of moisture by evaporation. 

Numerous experiments in Germany, Wisconsin, and in our own 
State have been made regarding the best methods of conserving moisture. 
It has been determined that the moisture cannot escape in very large 
(juantities from the soil that has on it constantly a thick mulch of dry 
earth. For this reason it is essential that as soon as the ground becomes 
packed and baked some tillage implement be used by means of which 
this crust can be broken, and the soil mulch maintained. At the time 
ol seeding there should be from 3 to 6 inches of dry earth on the surface, 
in order to conserve and hold the moisture in the ground and keep it for 
iho use of the coming crop. 



61 



Summing up the advantages of summer-fallowing, it may be said 
that it clears the land of troublesome weeds ; improves the physical 
condition of the soil, and makes available a larger amount of 
food and water supply. As to whether the fallow should come every 
second or third year will depend entirely on the character and condition 
of the land, and the moisture available. Every arid farmer will have 
to study his own conditions and determine his policy from a knowledge 
of his particuar needs. — Utah State Farmers' Institute, 1907. 



» P N 'ft 



